Love Will Find a Way
by summergirl63088
Summary: Kelsey Paris is a new student at Eden Hall Academy. During her days at Eden Hall Academy, she finds love and adventure. Slightly AU. Please R&R! *This story is currently under revision, with newly revised chapters posted as quickly as they are finished!*
1. Eden Hall Blues

Chapter One: Eden Hall Blues

Kelsey Alexandria Paris hummed to herself as she walked to the latest prep school that she would be attending. Nearly every year, since fourth grade, the young lady faced the struggle of transferring to a new school due to her father's busy work. After spending a year in the jungles of Argentina, her father had decided to take a job shooting advertisements for a company based in Minneapolis. This meant Kelsey had the choice between leaving Albany Academy for Girls in New York or attending Eden Hall Academy. Eager to leave the all girls school, Kelsey immediately chose to move to the Midwestern state. And while she was ecstatic about leaving the emotionally charged atmosphere of the previous school, she was not thrilled to be attending a prep school known for its athletic program above all others. Though she was a bit of a jock, herself, she was well aware that most jocks had a tendency to be egotistical brats. However, she would take bratty jocks over crazy rich girls any day of the week.

She had just turned the corner of the block, when a group of teenagers rollerskating whizzed by her.

" Watch where you're going!" she shouted angrily, her shoulder length blond hair flowing into her sapphire blue eyes.

One of the young men stopped and skated back towards her. " Sorry about that. We're running a little late for school."

Kelsey noted that he was wearing what appeared to be a hockey jersey, and immediately allowed her anger to abate. " I totally understand. I'm sorry for being so rude. I'm Kelsey Paris."

Kelsey held out her hand, and her brown haired peer grasped it firmly.

" I'm Charlie Conway."

Kelsey was about to ask him about the team he played for, but his antsy teammates interrupted before she could open her mouth.

" Yo, Charlie! Hurry up!" a kid with red hair yelled as the others waved impatiently.

" See ya later." Charlie said with an apologetic look as he skated over to the rest of the gang.

Kelsey let out a sigh and continued the lonesome walk to the school. As she neared the prestigious building, she could not help but let out another sigh. All of the new prep schools looked exactly the same to the jaded teenager. The front lawn of the academy was meticulously kept, and the students milling about were mostly dressed in expensive attire. She readjusted the strap of her black messenger bag and slowly walked inside the school and made her way to the line gathered outside of the main office.

By the time she had made it into Dean Buckley's office, she was quite bored and wanted nothing more than to go home. She should have listened to her dad and left earlier, despite the fact that she was excused from all of her morning classes due to having to have her schedule made up. Seeing as it was the first day of class, she assumed most students would already have their schedules made up, due to the majority of them living on in the school dorms.

" Good morning." the principal said as she entered into the richly decorated office.

" Good morning." she replied as she took a seat, placing her bag gently onto the floor.

" I hope you enjoy your time at our school. You are quite lucky that there has been an opening slot, Ms. Paris. Rarely are we able to admit new students on such short notice. I understand that your father is a world-renowned photographer."

" I suppose that is what they call him." Kelsey said humbly as she placed her hands onto her black slack covered lap. Her father's celebrity (money) was probably the only reason for why he had been able to get her into the school. " We are both really grateful for this opening. My father has heaped praises upon Eden Hall Academy these past few days, and I am so fortunate to be attending such a prestigious academy of learning."

Dean Buckley looked thoroughly pleased with her remarks, and opened a folder. " Your previous transcripts have shown that you are a satisfactory student. You have met all of the requirements for your year, so you make take anything that appeals to you. You can now go to the office next door to decide which classes to take for this year. Ms. Tuddle, our school counselor will help you choose your classes for this semester."

Kelsey shook the dean's hand and made her way over to the counselor's office. In the end she decided to take Biology, 20th Century Studies, AP Algebra,Anatomy, and Advanced Physical Education. She also had to take a two hour block of senior Language and Writing as part of her requirements to graduate.

" Everything is now in order, my dear." Ms. Tuddle chirped as she handed Kelsey a piece of paper. "Here is your schedule. It's lunchtime, so you can go and eat. Also, if you are still interested in playing hockey, there are try-outs this afternoon for the Varsity Ducks squad. Or, if you want to play under the Warriors' name, the J.V. squad is having tryouts tomorrow. "

" Thank you, Ms. Tuddle." Kelsey replied as she happily left the office.

As it was already lunch time, she decided to make her way to the cafeteria. Upon entrance into the loud room, she noticed that there appeared to be a hierarchy of cliques.

" Oh, man." she groaned aloud.

She stood nervously at the lunchroom entrance until a girl with perfectly straight black hair walked into the cafeteria.

Kelsey gently tapped the girl on the shoulder. " Hi, I'm Kelsey, and I'm new here."

The girl returned a warm smile, nodding her head." My name's Constance. You can come sit with me. Are you in the Drama Club?"

" I'm thinking of joining." Kelsey lied as she followed the girl to a table.

She really wasn't intent on joining any sort of clubs while completely her final year of high school. Hockey was the only thing she wanted to participate in, but since this girl seemed nice enough, Kelsey would have agreed to being a chess geek if it meant she wouldn't be awkwardly standing around.

" I should explain how the system of tables work. Okay, cheerleaders sit at the very first table. Varsity hockey players sit in the table behind them, chess club after them, then the basketball team. The football team sits at the table beside the cheerleaders, followed by the people who aren't into clubs, then the J.V. hockey team, and this table is for the Drama Club."

The pair sat down at the nearly empty table.

" Oh, so nobody sits with people outside of their own clique?" Kelsey could already tell that this school was going to be her least favorite.

A few of the schools she had previously attended had unwritten rules about cliques, but this one took the cake. People obviously only participated in one activity, which meant socialization outside of the group was probably non-existent.

" Not really." Constance stated, shaking her head. "So, where are you from?"

" New York."

Though this wasn't exactly the truth, it wasn't exactly a lie, either. Kelsey had spent the last three years living in New York, but she had been born in Chicago, Illinois, and had lived there until she was eight. From there, she had lived in Norway until the age of fourteen before moving back to America with her father.

" Wow! I've always wanted to go to New York!" her new friend said excitedly. " I bet you've been to Broadway a million times."

" A few. I'm really from Albany, so it's a rare occurrence. If you don't mind, I'm going to get something to eat."

Kelsey got up and walked to the line, grateful for the distraction. Constance seemed nice, but too enthusiastic. She was also rather hungry, and it looked like the drama club members did not use the cafeteria for eating, but for conversing.

" Today's lunch is probably going to be horrible," said a boy with a 'humph'. " My mother-"

" Goldberg, I could care less." a boy in front of him interrupted.

Kelsey was slightly amused with the senseless bantering; the mismatched group in front of her looked like the kind of people she would be willing to hang out with. However, whatever good humor she had been in was soon replaced with abject anger, when she noticed a burly guy in front of her motioning for one of his friends to join them. The hours spent waiting to meet the dean and counselor finally caused her latent anger to boil over as the boy walked right in front of her.

Kelsey tried, but could not keep her mouth shut. " Hey, you cannot skip me. I was here first!"

" So?" he smirked.

" Let me guess. You must be one of those snotty rich jocks who thinks they are better than everyone else. Well, go ahead. I'm leaving!"

Kelsey stalked out of the lunchroom, so disgusted that she no longer even wanted to eat. Instead, she went to meet the teachers of her morning classes, and after gathering the homework assignments and textbooks, went to her locker to cool off. After organizing the items and deciding on how she wanted to decorate the small space, she decided to head to her next class early, in order to avoid anymore arrogant jerks, lest she be suspended her first day.

* * *

" A little early, aren't you, Kelsey." Charlie said as he noticed the blond storming down the bleachers.

It was now three o'clock, and school was over. Kelsey's mood had not improved at all since lunch. Though the classes and teachers were nice, she had the unfortunate pleasure of sharing her two hour block English class with the _jerk_ she had encountered at lunch.

She stopped with a huff. " Hi. I just thought I should get ready early. Aren't you a little early, too, since you're already dressed?"

Kelsey was looking forward to letting the steam off during practice, and sincerely hoped she would not be running into anymore rich brats. She had spoken to Coach Orion a week before school had started, and was informed that while the team he coached was not made up of the elite of the school, it was made up of some very talented hockey players. After last year's disastrous season playing with an all girls' team made up of spoiled rich kids, Kelsey was hoping to play for a team that knew what they were doing.

Charlie laughed, causing Kelsey to smile. "Yeah, but I'm the captain, so I'm trying to set an example."

Kelsey rolled her eyes, feeling the anger from earlier slowly dissipate.

" Do you know where the locker rooms are?" Charlie stood up, matching the 5'9 height of the girl beside of him.

" Oh, yes. I came here for a tour of the building last week."

She walked to the locker room and grabbed her things from an unmarked locker. It was very kind of Coach Orion to allow her to store her gear there so she would not have to bring it to school with her on the first day. Since she still was not officially a part of the Eden Hall Ducks team, she put on her New York Stars uniform. The black jersey included the team name in yellow, along with a few stars. The bottoms were a plain black. The dark uniform highlighted her pale skin and fair hair, which she pulled up into a messy bun before lacing her skates and grabbing her hockey stick and helmet. She left the locker room and sat down on the bench with Charlie, who was lacing his skates.

" Was that the hockey team at your last school?" he asked giving her uniform the once over.

" No, but it is the uniform from my favorite team. I played for them for two years. I went to an all girls academy last year because it was mandatory to live on the campus, and my dad was away in Argentina for most of last year. My dad and I move around a lot, but the Albany Prep Academy Stars had to be my favorite team to play with when we moved back to the United States. I'm looking forward to playing with the Ducks, though." she added with a small smile to Charlie. " So, when will the other team members be here?"

She was anxious to meet her potential new teammate, and even more eager to make sure none of them were the goons from earlier.

" Any minute." he said, glancing at the door.

With a rush of laughter, the boys she had 'met' in the lunch line a few hours before appeared, with a few others she had not seen before.

" This day just gets better and better." she muttered with a sigh.

* * *

**A.N.-** I do not own the Ducks or any of the places in the story. However, I do own the created characters like Kelsey, her family, Constance, and anyone else I make up. If there is a team called the New York Stars, then I don't own them. I also made up the Albany Prep Academy (well, I don't think there is one), but if there is, I don't own it.

Author's Note for the Revised Version: So, I realized that I have not updated this story in a very long time...Well, four years to be exact. However, reading through the reviews, I realize just how bad this fic was at times. This was my first fan fiction, and though none of those rude reviewers will ever see this again, I started writing it when I was 14. I was a naive child, and I was full of imagination and creativity, so of course my story was vague and unrealistic. However, I do see that this fan fiction has great potential, and since my other fics are currently stalled due to losing the hard copies, I am revisiting this fiction and making it all it can be.

And to those of you who were kind, supportive, and enjoyed this fic, thank you so much. Towards the end, I had quite a few rotten reviews that literally made me cry because people were so harsh. Thank goodness I did not let that deter me from continuing with writing.

I truly hope that a revision of this fic will give it the honor it deserves. Also, I will finally finish it once I have completed the revisions to make it an even better story than it was to begin with. I think those of you who were so wonderful in your reviews deserve that much, at least!

So, please, leave me a review to let me know if I should continue with revising this story and making it the best it can be.

And, thank you to all of those who were kind enough to give this story a chance.


	2. Gaining New Friends & Finding an Old One

**Author's Note: I think a disclaimer in the previous chapter has alerted you to the fact that the only characters I own are my own.**

**Chapter 2: Gaining New Friends and Finding an Old One**

The boys stopped laughing as they leveled with Charlie and Kelsey, who had a look of disgust upon her usually pleasant oval-shaped face.

" Hey, it's the babe who was snappin' at me earlier." the tallest of the boys supplied.

Kelsey looked sharply at the toned young man, noting that if he was not such a pig-headed jerk, he would be quite handsome. His brown hair was held back with a blue bandanna, which paired with his muscular body and leather jacket, just screamed bad boy. She also couldn't help but think that he looked rather familiar, but wasn't going to dwell on that.

She locked her piercing blue eyes with his vibrant brown ones, holding a silent staring contest.

" Portman, knock it off." Charlie said as they continue staring one another down, before turning to the rest of the team. " This is Kelsey, everyone. She's going for tryouts."

A stout girl with a long blond ponytail spoke up first. " Hi, Kelsey. I'm Julie Gaffney, the goalie for the Ducks."

So everyone went down the line saying his or her name and offering up the position they played. As soon as everyone had finished greeting the new recruit, they rushed to the locker room, leaving Charlie and Kelsey alone on the bench.

" They all seem nice enough." she offered in the uncomfortable silence.

" Yeah." Charlie conceded as the rest of the team joined them again, dressed in their gear.

" So, we only have one student who wants to try out?" Coach Orion called from the door of the arena.

He sounded a little agitated, but this was nothing new.

" I guess." Charlie muttered, before he could stop himself.

An audible sigh was given from the rest of the team because they knew what would be coming now.

" You just earned everyone, even the new girl, twenty-five laps. Well, get going!" Coach Orion barked.

An half hour after everyone had finished, the team made their way onto the bench to listen to their coach's plans for the practice. They all pretty much were in agreement that Kelsey would be made a member of the team, even if Orion had yet to see her play.

" Well, I have decided that Conway, Averman, Banks, and Paris will take Center; Gaffney and Goldberg are Goalies; Moreau, Wu, Reed, and Portman will play Defense; Mendoza, Germaine, Tyler, and Robertson will play Offense. Now, let's scrimmage."

So in the end, Kelsey had Julie, Connie, Fulton, Luis, Adam, and Russ on her team. On the opposing team, Charlie had Averman, Goldberg, Ken, Portman, Guy, and Dwayne.

" On my whistle." Coach Orion said as he began lowering the puck down to the ice between Averman and Kelsey.

" Good luck." Averman quipped as the puck landed between them.

Kelsey nodded as the whistle was blown, before scooping the puck away from the stunned redhead.

By the time the hour and half long practice was over, Kelsey's team beat Charlie's 4-3. After a short speech from Orion that concluded with him welcoming Kelsey as the newest member of the team, the sweaty teenagers all made their way into the Ducks' locker room to change out of the sweltering uniforms. Everyone was exhausted, but thoroughly happy with the strenuous workout.

" Geez, Kelsey, you sure are fast." Dwayne drawled as he untied his laces.

Kelsey flashed him a smile, grateful for the workout. Her mood had improved drastically the moment she touched her skates onto the smooth ice of the rink.

" Yeah, I mean, I can't even skate that fast." Goldberg added, getting a roaring laugh from the team.

" Goldberg, you can barely skate." Fulton said while rolling his eyes.

" I can skate, thank you very much." Goldberg said matter-of-factly, puffing out his chest with a wink to Kelsey.

" You cannot." Charlie argued light-heartedly. " Last year, you nearly killed both of us when you went over that hill."

Noting the look of intrigue upon Kelsey's face, Charlie launched into the story of what happened on their way to Eden Hall on their first day of school. When he finished the entertaining story, everyone was howling with laughter. After the laughter subsided, the girls went into the shower room to shower off and get back into their clothes as the guys respectfully changed in the locker room.

" Oh, no. I have to get home." Kelsey said dreadfully as she looked at her watch as she emerged a few minutes later.

" Why the rush?" Russ asked, everyone's eyes darting over to her.

" Yeah, we're all going to stop by the Goldbergs' diner to get dinner." Fulton added, the rest of the guys nodding their heads fervently, thinking of the delicious food that awaited them.

" My stepmother takes issue with me being tardy." she said while rolling her eyes.

She placed all of her gear quickly into her locker, and picked up her messenger bag.

" Are you sure? My mom's food is the best in all of Minnesota." Goldberg boasted.

" Sorry." Kelsey said with a genuine frown. " But, I'll definitely join you guys next time." she promised as she headed out of the arena.

As soon as she was off of campus, she broke out into a run and did not stop until she made it to the apartment her dad was renting for the year that was ten blocks away. She stood out on the front stoop, gasping for breath as she looked up at the gray apartment building. The yellow daisies and purple pansies in the flower boxes outside the front windows were the only objects giving the building some color. Kelsey smoothed down her hair and tugged her blue button down shirt to remove the wrinkles and braced herself as she opened the heavy black door.

Marion Paris, glared icily at her stepdaughter from her perch on the white sofa. " I told you to be home an hour ago."

" I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to stay at practice so long." Kelsey looked down at her black flat covered feet.

She was not entirely upset that she was late for "quality time" with her stepmother, but more worried about how this would cause another argument between the older woman and her father.

" I don't care. This is the first time in months that I have been home, and you're busy doing only God knows what." Marion screeched as she waved her right hand in the air.

" I'm sorry, Marion, I really am. I didn't know what time it was until I checked my watch." the teenager said in a small voice, as her normally composed stepmother jumped up from the comfortable sofa, her stylishly cut brown hair swaying about.

" I don't care. You were always ungrateful." she groused as she stamped a heel clad foot onto the ground, causing her black pleated skirt to bounce. " Since the time you started playing hockey instead of going to your figure skating lessons, I knew that you would never be grateful of me."

Marion crossed her arms over top of her white blouse, giving Kelsey a look not unlike a pouting child.

" Oh, for crying out loud! You tell me this every time I see you." the younger one exasperatedly stated, throwing her hands up in defeat.

" Get out of here, you little brat!"

" Fine."

Kelsey turned on her heel and walked the two steps out of the apartment, and slammed the door. She started back towards the school, hoping to cool off without getting lost.

' I can't stand that horrible woman.' she thought angrily, as she came upon one of her relatively new teammates. ' Well, I wonder what he's up to.'

" Hi, Portman." she greeted him as she caught up with him.

Apparently, he had not noticed she was behind him, because he spun around really quickly with a menacing look on his face.

" Oh, hi." he returned, softening his expression somewhat. " What are you doing out this late on your own?"

Kelsey rolled her striking eyes, thinking to herself that it was barely even six. " Just enjoying the sights and sounds of Minnesota. So what's up with you? I thought everyone was going out to eat?"

They continued walking down the block before Portman offered an answer. " I'm tired of stickin' around the dorm or the diner, listenin' to everyone complain about me bailing out on them for most of last season."

Kelsey offered a sympathetic look, not knowing the full story. " I'm sure they'll eventually get over it."

He shrugged as they walked a little farther, stopping when they came to a small park that was situated between the school and the neighborhood Kelsey lived in. " So, why are you really out here tonight? Surely Minnesota is not as thrilling as New York."

Kelsey sat down upon a bench, crossing her ankles. " My stepmother thinks I'm an ungrateful heathen because I don't want to spend epic amounts of time with her."

" Ah, the delightful wench your dad married. How is dear Marion?" Portman sighed as he sat next to her.

Kelsey's frown deepened, not expecting to confront her mother's death. " Same as always."

She toed the ground beneath her feet, not wanting to look up at her companion.

" I'm sorry. I shouldn't have mentioned it." Portman said somberly. " I just-"

" It's okay, we were just four at the time." Kelsey interrupted, not wanting to talk about the past any longer. "So, speaking of the past, why were you a complete jerk to me today? I know we haven't seen one another since we were in grade school, but that don't mean you can treat me like a complete stranger."

She playfully punched him on his left shoulder.

Portman briefly looked taken aback before recovering with a smirk. " Well, I didn't recognize you, until Charlie said your name. And, to be fair, you definitely weren't that built when we were eight."

He winked, causing Kelsey to softly swat him. " I would thank you kindly to not be checking me out anymore."

" Sorry, babe. I can't resist."

" I saw you at the Jr. Goodwill games." she stated. " I can't believe you didn't notice me, there."

" You were there?" he asked with a look of surprise.

" Duh." she rolled her eyes. " I played for the Norwegian team since I had been living there for three years. Of course, we sucked and got eliminated in round two, but I went to all of Team USA's games while we were there."

" What were you doing in Norway?" he asked with a puzzled look upon his handsome face.

Kelsey watched a man throw a Frisbee for his dog to catch before answering. " Dad wanted me to stay with my mom's parents while he traveled around Asia, so I ended up living with them for about three years. Then, one year we lived in Nordland just because he has always wanted to live there. And, the year of the games and before we left, we lived in Oslo."

" Where else have you been?"

The old friends talked for close to an hour, catching one another up on their lives. Kelsey noticed the sun had started setting, sighing because she knew she would inevitably have to go home.

" Well, though I hate to say it, babe, you ought to go home."

An awkward silence followed, during which Kelsey nervously twirled her wavy hair, while Portman stretched his arms.

" Yes, I suppose you are right." she murmured as she reluctantly got up from the bench. "Want to come with me?"

" I guess. I shouldn't let a beautiful gal such as yourself walk alone at night." he said before quickly adding, " And, it would be cool to talk to your pops. "

Kelsey ignored his previous admission and started walking as he got up from the bench and followed her. They chatted about their favorite things during the walk to her apartment. Kelsey felt a knot growing in her stomach as she placed her key into the door and allowed herself and Portman into the dimly lit living room.

" Dad?" Kelsey called as she pulled off her shoes. Portman followed suite, taking in the fact that, though the outside was pretty drab looking, the inside was meticulously furnished with very expensive and very white furniture and carpet.

" Kitchen." came his muffled reply from the adjacent room.

Kelsey padded across the plush carpet, motioning for Portman to follow her through the swinging door. The burly boy shook his head in refusal, not knowing what to expect from her dad. Kelsey just rolled her eyes and went into the next room.

The small modern kitchen smelled deliciously of pot roast. Kelsey inhaled appreciatively, noting that Marion must have left or else they would be having a dinner cooked by a caterer.

" Yes, she went to the mall." Caleb Paris said perceptively. " What happened?"

Caleb looked sympathetically at his daughter. With his sandy blond hair, pale green eyes, and tanned skin, his daughter couldn't look any less like him. He was a broad, but tall man, and looked much younger than his forty-six years.

He untied the apron around him and placed it upon the island in the kitchen as his daughter started to explain.

" I was just an hour late. I tried to explain, but she wouldn't listen. We had to spend thirty minutes doing laps because someone talked back to coach." she said exasperatedly, but her tone changed as she continued, " By the way, I brought someone here to meet you."

" You already got a boyfriend?" her dad asked, crossing his arms, trying to look stern.

" Whatever." she rolled her eyes. " No. So, you remember how we lived in Chicago until I was about eight?"

" Of course, sweetheart. It was the roughest time of our lives."

Kelsey gave a sad nod, knowing that the initial years after her beloved mother's death, she rarely gave her dad problems except for the fact that he wanted to stay in the city were her mother's life was cut short. Though Kelsey was surrounded by friends and family during that tragic time, she still felt horribly depressed about living in the same apartment, going to the same places, and doing the same things in the city she had so loved until her mother's death.

" Well, you remember mom's best friend, Gina..." she trailed off.

" Was her husband Kenny Portman?"

" Yes, dad. Well, you must remember Dean."

" As in Dean Portman?" her dad said as the names and faces clicked in his head. "He was a brute at the Games."

" Well, he's here." she said impatiently, hoping he had not ducked out of the apartment while she had not been paying attention.

"Bring him in." Caleb said, grabbing another dish and more cutlery for a third spot at the table.

Kelsey walked into the living room, finding her rebel friend sitting rather uncomfortably on the overly plush sofa. She was glad that he hadn't taken the opportunity to duck out like she thought he would.

She smiled briefly, then started blushing. "You're invited to dinner."

" Great. I'm starved." he accepted as he got up from the sofa, still looking unsure of everything.

" Hey, he's known you since you were in diapers. So, chill out." she said, hoping to cover the nervousness she was feeling.

Portman smiled as he followed her into the heavenly smelling kitchen.

Once the pot roast had been served, the trio talked about how their lives had been going during the past few years. After a small desert of apple pie, and more humorous conversation, Portman regretfully got up from the kitchen table.

" Thanks for the meal, Mr. P. It was awesome."

Caleb nodded as he cleared the table.

" I should get going," Portman said to Kelsey as they walked into the living room. " The dorms have a curfew, and I don't need to be breaking it so soon into the semester. I know I have a reputation to uphold, but I'm not in the mood to listen to my ma."

Kelsey laughed.

" I'll see ya at school tomorrow." he said as he got up from putting his shoes back on.

Kelsey could feel a blush burning onto her cheeks as she followed him to the door and opened it. " Goodbye."

She waited for him to disappear down the block before closing the door and locking it securely with all the locks and deadbolt. She then turned around and went back to the kitchen, finding her dad reading the newspaper.

" I'll do the dishes." Kelsey offered as she came into the room.

" Not a problem, dear. We have a dish washer, so you can go to bed." her father said from behind the newspaper. " But, I'll delightfully accept a rain-check."

They both laughed and Kelsey walked over to her father and planted a kiss on his cheek.

" I guess I'll be going to bed, then." she said with a yawn while stretching to her tip-toes. " Goodnight, I love you."

" Goodnight, sweetheart." Caleb said as he flipped the page. " Love you."

The tired teenager then left the kitchen and walked up the stairs in the dining room to her bedroom on the second floor. After quickly changing into her pajamas, she climbed into her soft bed and was asleep moments after resting her head upon the fluffy pillow.

**Author's Note: I hope this version of Chapter Two supplies you with more of Kelsey's background than the original. Please leave a review! Any remarks, helpful criticisms, and the like are gratefully appreciated!**


	3. Varsity Bullies

**Author's Note:Thanks for all of the reviews of this story :-) I realize I may not receive any reviews for the revision, but it is rather nice that people have checked this fiction out over 300 times since I posted the revised Chapter One. Happy reading!**

* * *

**Chapter 3: Varsity Bullies**

The next morning when Kelsey awoke, she thought about what had happened the night before. She groaned as she recalled the blushing episode as Dean had left. Thankfully, he hadn't noticed the pink pigment that had crept into her cheeks, but Kelsey felt rather stupid over it. By now she was so used to boys, or so she thought, that she rarely blushed around them. Perhaps she just felt special over the fact that he had acted so nicely towards her the night before.

" Kelsey!" Caleb called from downstairs. "Hurry up, or you'll be late for school!"

Kelsey reluctantly got out of her warm bed and ran into the bathroom across the hall to take a quick shower. After wrapping her plush robe around her, she walked back into her bedroom to start of the hard task of deciding what to wear. After browsing through her small walk-in closet numerous times, she settled on another pair of black slacks, a black camisole, and a red three quarters sleeve cardigan. She decided that perhaps she would wear a little make up today, figuring it would not be such a bad idea to look girly for once. Though she loved to dress up, she had decided to stop being a girly girl in order to keep her previous hockey teammates from dismissing her skills. With the ultra feminine Connie Moreau on the Ducks team, Kelsey felt safe removing some of the "just one of the boys" facade she was so used to. She applied her mascara and put some lip-gloss on before grabbing a pair of black flats from her closet, then ran down the stairs, her damp blond hair swishing back and forth in the ponytail it was pulled in to.

" It's hard to imagine that your mother was a model." Caleb chuckled as he handed her some money when she reached the bottom of the stairs.

" Well, I could go back up-stairs and change into my sequined dress." Kelsey started back up the stairs.

" Maybe for prom. Right now, you have to get to school, or you'll be late." Caleb laughed.

" I love you, dad. I'll see you when-ever." Kelsey said, acknowledging to her father that she had no idea of how long his job assignment would last this time. She bent down and kissed her father on the cheek.

" I love you, too. I'll see you tomorrow."

Kelsey threw her flats into her bag, and grabbed her roller-blades. She buckled them up and cautiously walked down the steps. After putting on a pair of oversize sunglasses to ward off the bright morning sun, she skated off towards school. She was enjoying the gentle breeze blowing around her and having nothing to worry about, when a voice broke her out of her thoughts.

" Hey, Kelsey, wait up!" came Charlie's voice from an alley to her right.

" Hello, Charlie. What are you doing here?" Kelsey asked as she stopped skating towards school and skated over toward the alley.

" Waiting for Fulton. He's too busy practicing to," Charlie yell as he cupped his hands around his mouth, "Hurry!"

" Alright, I'm coming. Jeez." Fulton mumbled, picking up his practice puck and moving over to the pair.

The three of them skated the rest of the way to school, and found the rest of the team sitting on the grass in front of the building. Kelsey took of her blades and socks, replacing them with her simple black flats.

" So, are we going to the movies on Friday?" Julie asked the group.

" I guess." Charlie replied, pulling his sneakers on.

" Which one are we seeing?" Les asked, for once not joking around with his friends.

" I hope we see Scream 4, 'cause I wanna get some action." Goldberg said, causing them to all snicker.

" Your chance of getting action is about as good as Dwayne becoming sharp." Adam laughed.

"What do ya mean?" the aforementioned young man asked with a bewildered look.

Everyone burst into laughter, not being able to hold it in for much longer. The group continued to laugh until a gang of boys came over their way, causing the Ducks to stop laughing. Kelsey wasn't sure of what was going on, but decided it would be best to follow suit.

" So, who's the new duckling?" asked Trevor Riley*, as he leveled with the teenagers who had previously been relaxing on the lawn.

" Her name is Kelsey, and she isn't a duckling." Charlie defended.

" Conway, your petty remarks are useless." Riley sneered.

" Sounds like someone wants the new chick." Cole added stupidly.

" My name isn't chick, and I hate being called that." Kelsey said hotly, not being able to keep her temper in check. She was not in the mood for boneheaded jocks to pick on her or have her new friends fight her battles.

" Well, this one has a temper to match her looks." Riley said.

" Better back down." Fulton glared as he stood up, his fist curled at his side.

" Bash Brother on the prowl, huh?" Riley laughed. " Baby, you could do so much better than these losers."

" Listen here, creep. I am so sorry to report this, but I don't date jerks." Kelsey fired back, not giving the rest of the Ducks a chance to join the argument.

" You should watch yourself, duckling. You might not be so lucky." Riley threatened as he saw Dean Buckley walk by.

The group strutted off, leaving the group in peace.

" Who were those creeps?" Kelsey asked when their tormentors were out of earshot.

" That was Riley and Cole." Charlie replied dully. "And, I guess those were some guys trying out for the Warriors."

" Riley is the little brother of our _dear _friend, Rick Riley, who graduated two years ago. And, Cole is just a moron who can't graduate. Their daddies donate thousands of dollars to the school, which makes them think they're so much better than us." Julie added as she rolled her eyes.

" Yeah, they are always picking on us." Kenny said, frowning.

The bell rang, signaling for them to go to their lockers. They all reluctantly picked up their belongings and trudged into the building. Kelsey opened up her locker, smiling briefly at how neatly arranged it was. She carefully removed her biology book and gym clothes, placing them into her bag before heading to class.

* * *

"Today, we will be learning what type of instruments you use to dissect animals and insects with." Mrs. Needlemire droned after taking the roll. "So, now you will copy down these words, write their correct definition, and the pronunciation for every single one of them. You must also choose and write a report on one of them. I'm off to the office. If I hear a peep from this classroom, you will be dealt with."

She walked out of the room, much to the delight of her captive audience.

A note landed in the middle of the table that Kelsey was sharing with Julie.

" Open it." Julie mouthed, not daring to actually say the words until the Needlemeister was truly out of earshot.

Kelsey opened the note, taking in the fact that the words were scrawled haphazardly across the lined paper.

_Who do you have next?_

" It must be from Portman." Julie supplied in a whisper as the rest of their classmates begin whispering to one another or exchanging notes.

" Yeah." Kelsey whispered back as she picked her pencil back up.

_I have Gym. Why? _Kelsey wrote out in a neat cursive.

" How can you write like that?" Julie asked in a whisper, marveling at the beautiful loops that the writing contained. "I can't ever get my writing to look that nice."

" I don't know. It's just how I write." Kelsey replied offhandedly as she folded the note back up.

She aimed the paper to the table where Fulton and Portman were sitting and threw it. She watched him read it before he scribbled down the answer, then he threw it back.

_Cool, I have gym next, too._

Kelsey wrote down another question, _Who teaches Gym__?_, before throwing the paper back to him. Since Advanced Physical Education was not a homework orientated class, Kelsey hadn't bothered meeting the teacher during her ruined lunch break the day before.

" I hope the Needlemeister doesn't come back any time soon." Julie whispered as she continued fervently writing out definitions.

" Me too." Kelsey whispered back, taking note that she was barely even finished with the assignment.

The note flopped down on her desk as she made a mental note to finish the assignment for homework.

_Mrs. Arlington. She's OK._

_What do you mean 'OK'?_

Kelsey threw the note back. Just as it landed on his table, Mrs. Needlemire came into the room, causing the students to all act as if they had been feverishly doing their assignment.

" Class is dismissed," she droned, ignoring the audible sigh the entire class gave as the sound of chairs scraping against the floor was met with the sound of the bell ringing.

" I meant that she is nice, but she is too jittery." Portman said from behind Kelsey as they exited the classroom.

This caused Kelsey to jump, with a small gasp escaping her lips, dropping all of her books to the floor.

" Sorry." Portman said. " I didn't mean to scare ya."

" It's OK." Kelsey bent down to pick up her books, but Portman beat her to it.

" Here," he said as he handed her the books, and taking her arm to move her out of the stampede that was trying to exit the boring teacher's presence.

" Thanks." she felt her face burn. 'I'm blushing again.' she thought miserably.

She walked with him to their next class, barely listening to the words he was saying. She managed to nod in all of the right places, keeping him satisfied as they entered the large gymnasium. Noticing that the girl waving at them was Connie, they sidled over to young woman and were soon joined by Goldberg.

" At least we have friends." Kelsey quipped as she watched more students pour into the room.

The others nodded their agreement as the teacher came into the Warrior decorated gymnasium.

" Good morning, everyone!" Mrs. Arlington chirped as she greeted the teenagers. " Get changed into your gym clothes and meet me right here in ten minutes."

The girls parted ways with the boys and made quick work of getting out of their clothes and getting into their work out clothes. After Connie finished primping in the mirror, the pair headed back out to join the others who had finished getting dressed.

" Okay, class. Today, we are going to run 30 laps." Mrs. Arlington said enthusiastically as the stragglers came out of the locker room.

"30? I can barely run 15." Goldberg complained under his breath as he began to trot after the rest of the students.

Kelsey mentally agreed with him, finally realizing why this had been called an Advanced Physical Education course on her schedule. Between hockey and this class, she was going to be in the best shape of her life.

By the time class was over, everyone, even Goldberg had finished. They had ten minutes left of class, so Mrs. Arlington allowed them to talk after they had all finished showering and getting back into their school clothes.

" So, Guy and I have thought of what movie to see." Connie said brightly as they regrouped in the bleachers.

" What?" Kelsey asked, pulling her cardigan back over the camisole.

" Well since we went to see a 'chick flick' last time, Guy thought that we should go and see " The Scorpion King"." Connie replied.

" Yeah, I can probably get me a girl by Friday, so I won't even have to watch it." Goldberg said excitedly as he finally joined them on the bleachers.

" I'm sure you could." Kelsey said while rolling her eyes. She may have not known Goldberg for long, but she was pretty sure his skills were not as great as he thought they were.

" So, how's your stepmom?" Goldberg asked, changing the subject before being submitted to more teasing.

" Why do you want to know?" Kelsey gently enquired.

" I just wanted to know." Goldberg defended, shrugging his shoulders.

" I don't know. She left for New York last night, and I haven't talked to her since shortly after practice yesterday." Kelsey answered, not wanting to really continue this conversation.

Thankfully the bell rang at that moment, effectively ending the conversation. The grabbed their bags and headed off to their third period classes. Kelsey did not have her Anatomy class with any of the other team members, but she did have AP Algebra with Ken. However, both of the advanced classes were filled with mostly lecture, so Kelsey had no time to converse with anyone, regardless. After the bell rang to signal the start of the lunch period, Kelsey darted off to her locker to put her things up.

"Ready for lunch?" Connie asked as the two met up outside of the cafeteria doors.

Kelsey walked into the highly segregated cafeteria, and gave a sigh. Connie took notice of the rest of the Ducks standing in the lunch line, so the two joined them.

" So, since I'm officially on the team, I can sit with you guys now, right?" Kelsey asked Charlie as she took her place behind him in line.

" Yeah. We sit…"

" I already know." Kelsey cut him off, not wanting another lesson of the seating of the cliques.

She still found it entirely ridiculous that people were so immature that they could not all be friends. Her previous schools may have had cliques, but it was not to this degree. She thought it was depressing that people only associated with like minded individuals.

" Move out of the way, Ducks." Riley growled as he shouldered his way past the majority of the team.

" Hey, you can't skip!" Kelsey said, having a feeling of deja vu. " We were here first!"

" As if I cared. Now move." Riley glared.

" No, I was here first, so you move!" Kelsey raised her voice, getting the attention of the students sitting at nearby tables.

" I said move." Riley growled.

" No." Kelsey said stubbornly, causing the rest of the Ducks to glance anxiously between the two arguing teens.

She could not understand why no one else had put him in his place; the rest of the team had been attending the school for two years now.

" I would move if I was you." Averman meekly supplied, keeping his eyes toward the floor.

" I am not moving." Kelsey repeated defiantly, crossing her arms over her chest.

" Then, I'll move you myself." Riley asserted, as he narrowed his eyes.

He followed through with his threat, picking Kelsey up off of the floor and pushing her into the wall. He smirked as he gave an extra push before walking by.

" Ouch." Averman mumbled as he winced.

" What happened?" Dwayne asked, just arriving to the line.

" Are you okay?" Charlie asked, a look of concern upon his face.

" My arm hurts." Kelsey mumbled as she rubbed her elbow.

The extra push Riley had given her had caused her elbow to jerk and bounce into the stone wall behind her. It was taking all she had to not scream from the pain shooting up her arm.

" We'll take her to the Nurse's office." Fulton said as Portman nodded.

The pair had just arrived to the cafeteria in time to witness the event. The Bash Brothers had not communicated it yet, but both were not only mad at the brute that was pushing the smaller girl around, but also with the entire team for not at least stepping in to stop him. Both guys sported intense glares, with Portman flexing the fingers on his right hand aggressively.

" That would be a good idea." Julie agreed, not wanting anymore trouble to be started on school time.

" Just in case the goons show up." Charlie added, wanting the situation to cool down before things escalated.

Kelsey cradled her left arm as the Bash Brothers escorted her out of the cafeteria and down to the nurse's office.

" Well, it's not broken." Nurse Lansing said, after examining Kelsey's arm for barely two minutes. "But, you should go to the hospital to make sure. You could possibly have a hairline fracture."

" All right." Kelsey said, not being a newbie to injuries.

The pain had started to abate, luring the teen into believing the nurse was right. The nurse gave Kelsey a sling to keep her arm in for the rest of the day, since the blond had insisted on finishing the school day out. Kelsey slowly walked out of the office, hoping the guys had cooled off in her absence.

" I guess it isn't broken?" Portman said hopefully, getting up from the spot on the floor he had been occupying.

His mood had not improved at all as he had conversed with Fulton his desire to give Riley a taste of his own medicine, along with giving the rest of the team a crash course in looking out for each other. Specifically, looking after the girls. Portman may have sported some chauvinistic word choices, but he would never stand by and let a guy physically harm a female.

" No, but I have to go to the doctor after school." Kelsey frowned.

" What's wrong? Don't like doctors?" Fulton asked as he, too, got up.

" No, it's just that I don't know my way around this place and my dad is at work, so I don't have a way to the hospital." Kelsey explained, a frown still imprinted upon her face.

" Well, I could take ya." Portman offered. " I mean, we'd have to take the bus..."

" Well, I suppose." Kelsey said as he trailed off. " Are you sure you know the way?"

" It couldn't be that hard to figure out." he said with a smirk. " I do live in Chicago."

Kelsey conceded. " Alright, then. Thanks, guys."

" Oh, it wasn't a problem." Fulton replied. " Really, you saved us from losing our scholarships."

" Yeah, Riley is toast as soon as I catch him off campus." Portman said with a somber look.

The bell rang, so the trio let the subject drop as they headed to their classes.

* * *

Kelsey sat in the doctor's office waiting for him to get the results of the X-Rays of her arm back from the radiologist. She had been given a small dose of pain medication when she had reached the office, which had put her in a slightly more pleasant mood. As soon as the first class after lunch had finished, she had went back to the nurse's office for aspirin because the pain in her arm had intensified, and she was fearing the worse.

" So, do you think you'll still be going with us to the movies Friday." Portman questioned as he sat in a chair by the examination table.

He had quickly navigated them to the hospital by the bus, grinding his teeth each time Kelsey had given a whimper. For her part, she had tried to play off the fact that her arm was causing her excruciating pain, but gave up the facade as they had sat on the bus. She just did not feel like causing the young man to lose his scholarship due to her being stubborn.

" I haven't completely decided. It really depends on how things turn out here." Kelsey answered. " Just how long do these quacks need to see if my stupid arm is broke?"

" It could be a few minutes, babe." Portman reassured, hoping he was right.

Kelsey glared at him, but refrained from saying anything as the door opened.

The doctor came through the door, looking over the chart he was holding. " Well, Ms. Paris, I'm afraid to say that your arm is slightly fractured. I find it miraculous that you haven't completely fractured the bone due to the inept nurse at your school not putting a splint on your arm, and I am dismayed that she even let you stay at school." he tutted as he began pulling out the materials necessary for a cast. " I have called Eden Hall Academy to inform them of this lack of response, so hopefully we can prevent this in the future. You're a remarkable young lady for dealing with the pain for so long."

" How long do I have to wear the cast?" Kelsey questioned with a slight whine in her voice.

A nurse came into the room, and began helping the doctor.

" I am going to say at least five to six weeks. Maybe a little longer, but we will keep a firm eye on things." he assured. " Do you have a color preference, Ms. Paris?"

Half an hour later, Kelsey was sleeping on the bus, her head rested against Portman's shoulder. Her cast covered arm, which was blue to match her eyes, was tucked securely into the sling. The doctor had insisted on giving her another dose of medicine before leaving, though Kelsey tried to reassure him that her arm was not causing her much pain. No sooner had they caught the bus and settled into seats, the girl was out like a light. Portman had a complacent smile on his face, enjoying all of the wistful looks he was getting from the guys who would get on the bus that were around their age. He was a little bit saddened that her hair was pulled back into a ponytail because he had the urge to run his fingers through her silky hair.

Much sooner than he had wanted, the stop close to her apartment came, so he nudged her awake long enough to get her off the bus.

" Where are we?" she asked groggily, as she patted her side. " Wait! Where's my bag?"

Noticing the note of panic in her voice, Portman put a calming hand on her uninjured shoulder. " Hey, it's cool. I've got it right here."

He patted the bag as it hung from his right shoulder.

She sighed gratefully, before closing her eyes. " I'm so tired." she murmured, starting to sway on the spot.

Portman steadied her, before picking her gently off of her feet. " Don't worry, you're knight in shining armor will get you back to the castle safe and sound."

Kelsey laughed lightly, her thoughts too muddled for her to sarcastically retort. She nuzzled her face against his hard chest and drifted off to a light sleep as he started walking.

Portman carried her back to the apartment within minutes, and placed her onto her feet on the stoop. " Princess, you need to tell me where your keys are."

He kept his hands securely around her waist, not wanting her to topple over and further injure herself.

" Pocket." she mumbled, not even opening her eyes.

Portman rolled his eyes as he opened the flap of her bag with one hand, noticing a small zippered pocket on the inside. He quickly pulled the keys out, making sure he kept one hand wrapped around her right arm. He gently pulled her over to the door, and held her against it as he unlocked it. After placing her keys back into her bag, he scooped her up again and opened the door. He quickly placed her onto the white couch, being careful to place her on her uninjured side. The young man then removed her shoes, placing them at the end of the couch, before dropping her bag next to it.

Kelsey continued sleeping, not even stirring when he grabbed a throw blanket from the closet in the hall upstairs that he carefully placed over her curled up body.

" Hey," he whispered into her ear, " if you need anything just give me a call at the dorm."

He had carefully written the number down on a conveniently placed notepad. He really did not want to leave her, but had a massive mountain of homework to do. And a little pow-wow to attend to with his coward buddies.

"Mmhmm." she mumbled in return.

Portman resisted the urge to kiss her on the forehead and made his exit, puzzled by the sudden change in his feelings.

* * *

Later that evening, Kelsey was sitting on her couch talking to Julie on the phone. She had the receiver tucked between her right shoulder and her chin as she used her right hand to push the channel changer on the remote control.

" So how's your arm?" the goalie asked, grateful for the break in her homework.

" It's broken. I'm stuck wearing a cast for the next six weeks."

" Man, that sucks. But, at least the season still doesn't officially start until November."

" Yeah, but think of all the practices I have to miss." Kelsey groaned. " I'll be benched for sure."

" Coach Orion is pretty understanding."

" I suppose." Kelsey mumbled sadly.

" Look on the bright side. Now someone will have to carry your books." Julie quipped, trying to get the other girl to cheer up.

"Oh, really?" Kelsey asked with a smirk. She had always seen guys carrying books around for girls in her previous schools, but since she hadn't had a boyfriend since she was in Norway, she had never given it a thought.

She quit changing the channels as she landed on one showing _Pretty Woman_. She kept the volume turned down low in order to keep up with her conversation with Julie.

" I bet Goldberg would, if ya promised to go to the movies with him."

" I'll pass. Maybe I can get Luis."

" You'll be late for class. He always flirts between classes." the other girl replied.

" Yeah. Well, maybe I can get Charlie to."

" Linda is always hanging around him before class."

" Well, Fulton and Dwayne are out of the question." Kelsey said.

Dwayne was a sweetheart, but Kelsey just did not want to take advantage of his kindness. He would feel compelled to do everything for her, and she didn't want him to be late for his classes because of his kindness. Fulton would just feel too awkward, and Kelsey did not feel right asking him to give up being comfortable around her just for that.

" What about Averman?"

" Never ask me that again!"

The girls laughed for a few minutes before continuing with the conversation.

" Well, ya could ask Portman."

" I doubt he would." Kelsey said, knowing she was completely wrong about that.

She was confused enough as it was, without having him constantly helping her out. Even though they had just met each other again for the first time in years, everything seemed to be falling comfortably back into place. Well, except for this infatuation she was currently feeling for him. She had never really been into the stereotypical bad boy, but then again, she also knew Dean Portman wasn't the stereotypical bad boy.

" Well, it's him, Kenny, or Russ." Julie counted off.

" I'll figure it out tomorrow. Did you get finished with the biology assignment?" Kelsey asked, wanting very much to change the subject.

" Yes. Did you?"

" I can't, honestly. I'm not ambidextrous, so it's impossible to do."

" Oh, the Needlemeister is going to flip." Julie sighed. " I could do it for you."

" Thanks for the offer, Julie, but I really don't want to make you take up the slack for the both of us."

Julie frowned, but decided to not admonish the injured girl over the phone. " Is anyone home with you?"

" No, but I'm fine, really. Listen I got to go. I'm still pretty tired, and I just want this day to be over with. I'll talk to you tomorrow."

" Later."

" Bye."

Kelsey hung up the phone, and turned the volume up on the television. After the movie was over, she managed to microwave the dinner her dad had prepared for her before leaving for his assignment. After silently eating her meal, she decided to take a shower before going to bed. After carefully taking the longest shower in her life due to having her left arm hanging uselessly at her side in a specially designed plastic sleeve, she got into her pajamas and took a couple of aspirin. After watching her alarm clock tell time until nine o'clock, she began drifting off. The stresses of the past few days and the misery she had been subjected to caused the teenager to have a fitful night of sleep.

* * *

" _Kelsey, honey, I have to tell you something." her father said early one morning._

" _Is mommy coming home early?" Kelsey asked in her innocent 4-year- old voice._

" _Kelsey, mommy was hurt in an accident, so we have to go to the hospital."_

" _But what about the Halloween party?" Kelsey whimpered, not fully understanding what was going on._

" _We'll have a party after mommy gets better, sweetie." Caleb replied, hoping that he was right about this. " Why don't we go to see mommy at the hospital?"_

_So, they drove to the hospital._

" _Hi, baby." her mom whispered from the bed._

" _Why were you huwt?" Kelsey asked, tears glistening on her pink cheeks._

" _Mommy was in an accident. Kels, before I go to sleep, I want you to know that I'll always love you."_

"_I love you too, mommy."_

_The next sequence in her dream brought her to a few days after the accident._

" _When's my mommy coming home?" Kelsey managed through tears._

" _Kelsey, honey, I already told you. Your mommy's not coming home. She had to go somewhere." Caleb said, noticing the hint of anger in his voice. He was having such a difficult time with all of this. Even though the initial prognosis had been good, Kirsi had developed a blood clot after the surgery to stop the internal bleeding caused by the accident. Within just a few hours, Caleb's beautiful wife was dead, and he was left all alone with his young daughter. " Kelsey, baby, daddy is sorry. It's just, mommy... can't come home._

_The funeral home had many people in it, most of them people Kelsey had never met in her young life. The only comfort she is getting is from her next door neighbor's son, and he isn't very equipped to handle the sobbing girl.  
_

_Now she is sitting in a chair, while the grown-ups walk past the coffin where her mom rests._

" _I want my mommy!" Kelsey cried loudly, wanting so much to throw herself onto the floor._

_The little boy beside her hugs her. " It's okay, Kels. I'm sorry, but your mom is gone to a better place."_

" _But I want her."_

" _I know, but it's gonna to be okay. You'll see. Everything will be okay."_

Kelsey awoke from the nightmare with a start, sending a jolt of pain through her body as she jerked her arm. Noticing that she was soaked in sweat, she reluctantly got out of bed to turn the fan in her room on before settling back into her bed.

" This is going to be a long night." she mumbled, wishing her dad was home so she could talk to him and feel better.

* * *

**A.N.- Thank you everyone for your reviews. I am contemplating removing the old chapters due to my wanting to change the storyline of this story. I am sure I can come up with something dramatic to replace the other terrible plot device I used last time, so I think it would only make more sense to remove the other chapters. As I have stated in the last chapter, I would really like to know your opinion as to changing the storyline somewhat from the original. So, any reviews would be very helpful :-)**

*** I have edited this chapter for the upteenth time, and since I don't know the youngest Riley's name (I just know he was mentioned as losing his JV spot in the movie), I have named him Trevor. Imagine he is very similar to Rick. And, since he needs a goon, I figured Cole was a good candidate for not graduating. Also, certain Ducks (i.e. Julie, Fulton, Dwayne, Luis, Russ, Ken, and Portman) will be a grade ahead of the others, putting them as seniors and the rest as juniors. Kelsey is also a senior. I really can't think of anything else I am changing (I'm currently working on the new direction of the story), but I hope this clears some things up.  
**


	4. Jealousy is Contagious

**Chapter 4: Jealousy Is Contagious**

Kelsey woke up the next morning, feeling more tired than she had when she initially went to bed. She lay in bed, contemplating on going back to sleep when she looked over at her alarm clock.

" Oh, man." she groaned.

The clock read 7:30, meaning that the seventeen year old had to be at school in 10 minutes. Kelsey got out of bed as quickly as her injured arm would allow her, and moved over to her closet. She pulled out a pair of jean hip-huggers and a black shirt, making quick, yet careful, work of changing out of her pajamas and into the clean clothes. She pulled on her tennis shoes, and grabbed a hair clip as she carefully made her way out of her bedroom and downstairs. She prayed that her dad had made it back at some point that morning or she would be in more trouble than she could count on one hand.

" Dad, I'm going to be late." Kelsey called out, listening for an answer.

" Okay, I'm ready." Caleb said, as he came into the living room while grabbing his car keys from the rack by the front door. " Wait a minute, what happened to you?"

Kelsey explained the trials she had endured the day before as her father quickly laced up her sneakers and pulled her messy hair back and clipped it up. Her father picked up her bag and ushered his injured daughter out the back door of the apartment, into the two car garage. Despite having the mean to buy a more expensive car, Caleb chose to drive a blue Jeep Wrangler, which looked completely out of place in a city setting. Kelsey loved the vehicle nonetheless, and enjoyed driving it on the occasions her father would permit it. The engine roared to life, and Caleb made use of his crazy driving habits to get his daughter to school.

Kelsey made it to the illustrious institution with two minutes to spare before the bell rang.

" Bye, I love you." Kelsey said and kissed her dad on the cheek.

" I love you, too. Be sure to have someone bring you home after school. I'll be home for dinner." Caleb added with a frown as she shouldered her bag.

Kelsey waved to her dad after she closed the car door, and then walked to where the Ducks were sitting.

" Look, she has a _cast_." Averman said as he pointed at Kelsey.

" Really? I didn't notice it." Connie said sarcastically.

" I better get going. I don't want to get trampled." Kelsey said, resisting the urge to kick Averman.

" Hey, Kelsey, do you need someone to carry your books?" Charlie asked as he got up from the grass. Linda had a look that was a mix of admiration for her boyfriend's helpfulness, and jealousy that he was being so helpful to such an attractive girl.

" You don't have to." Kelsey said while blushing.

" But, I want to." Charlie insisted.

" Okay." she said, realizing she was fighting another losing battle.

* * *

Kelsey and Charlie were the first ones to sit at the table at lunchtime.

" So how long do ya have to keep the cast on?" Charlie asked as he returned to the table with a tray that had two bowls of food and two bottles of milk.

" About six weeks, I think." Kelsey said in a depressed voice as he sat the food down.

" You sound a little upset. Want to talk about it?" the team captain asked as he opened her milk.

" Well, I just had a bad night. I really didn't get much sleep..." Kelsey replied, hesitant to talk about such a touchy subject with someone she barely knew.

" What's up, babe?" Portman said as he sat down in the empty chair to the left of Kelsey.

"What is this?" Kelsey said referring to the soup in her bowl, ignoring the question Portman had asked.

She had initially been tempted into eating it, but once noticing that this was a chunky white substance nothing like a soup she had ever been tempted into eating, she sat her spoon back down into the soup.

" It's clam chowder." Adam said as he sat down at the table. " Well, more like something the cooks would like us to think is clam chowder."

" You would know, Cake-eater." Charlie said, chuckling.

" Shut-up, Spazway."

" Cake-eater is eating with the Ducks? What happened to sitting with the rich kids?" Russ taunted.

Adam rolled his eyes, enduring the teasing. " Can't a man sit with his friends?"

" Who doesn't want their clam chowder?" Goldberg asked, moving the flow of the conversation as he lowered himself into a chair.

" Here, you can have mine." Kelsey handed him the bowl with her untethered hand. " Thanks for getting it, Charlie, but I'm just not in the mood for chowder."

Having lived in New York for several years, Kelsey had a special place in her heart for clam chowder, but this oatmeal looking batch did not look appetizing at all.

" I still say my mom can make the best clam chowder." Goldberg said to Guy, as he accepted the other bowl.

" Sure." Guy rolled his eyes.

" Where's Luis?" Connie asked as she joined the group.

" He's over there, talking to Kylie." Fulton answered as he took a place at the table.

" He's stupid." Charlie added as he began eating.

" I know. Why would she even want to talk to him?" Adam agreed.

" Who's Kylie?" Kelsey asked, bewilderingly.

" Well, as you can see, she is a cheerleader. She flirts with every boy and every boy wants to go out with her." Julie explained as she pointed to a very pretty blond haired girl who was standing by the cheerleader table.

" Oh."

" Earth to the boys." Connie, waving her hand in front of her boyfriend's glazed over eyes. " Guy! Quit staring at Kylie! Now!"

" Oh, I'm sorry." Guy apologized quickly, immediately turning his gaze to his now angry girlfriend.

" Sorry isn't going to help you now. I'm sick of this. Change your attitude or I will change my mind." Connie snapped.

The remaining team members attempted to advert their attention. Most went back to eating or talking in hushed tones, hoping to not draw attention to themselves.

Julie looked over at Kelsey. "Do you need me to come over after school to help with your homework? I invited Scooter over to help me study for this humongous physics test I have next week, but I can cancel if you need me to."

Kelsey looked away from the couple that was heatedly arguing with one another. "Um, that's okay. I think I can find someone else to help me, Julie. I took physics last year; it's way harder than biology."

"Okay. But, if you can't get someone, just let me know. I'll probably get tired of studying after a couple hours anyway." she laughed.

"Connie, wait!" Guy exclaimed as he jumped up out of his seat.

Connie had stormed out of the cafeteria , leaving Guy no choice but to follow his stewing girlfriend to wherever she had went. Everyone at the table glanced up for a moment to shrug before going back to what they had previously been doing. While everyone else ate their lunches, Kelsey sat silently at the table. She suddenly felt a brief jab at her left leg, and looked up quizzically at Portman. He silently offered her half of his barbecue sandwich, which Kelsey gratefully accepted.

The bell rang fifteen minutes later, and the group of hockey players grabbed their trays and returned them before heading off to their afternoon classes.

* * *

" As I said yesterday, we will be studying the American Revolution." Mr. Clark said once the tardy bell rang. " You will be partnered up and will have to give an oral report. This counts as 50% of your end of term grade."

" Do we get to chose our partners?" Kylie, the cheerleader from lunch asked. She was winking at Portman.

Kelsey was torn between scratching the other girls steely eyes out and hurling.

" Mr. Clark, you have a phone call." the secretary paged over the intercom.

" Alright, guys, keep the noise down. I'll be back in a few. " Mr. Clark said jovially as he went to the office.

" I'm going to be sick." Kelsey said to Portman, trying not to laugh as he smirked.

Though she hadn't noticed him in the class on the first day due to her being rather perturbed with him, she had decided to sit with him once she realized they had the class together and she was no longer harboring ill-will towards him.

" I hope he chooses our partners. I ain't working with Kylie." Portman said.

" Okay. I will be choosing your partners." Mr. Clark announced as he entered the classroom a few minutes later. He went down the list. " The last two groups are Kelsey Paris and Kylie Perry, and Dean Portman and Ashleigh Vance."

" My luck is horrible." Kelsey groaned, earning a sympathetic nod from Portman who was mentally celebrating the fact that he had dodged that bullet.

Mr. Clark then told them to get together with their partners to choose which topic they would present on and to exchange contact information. Kelsey grinned and bared the painful conversation she had with Kylie until the bell rang for their next class. Kelsey was positive that Kylie would contribute zilch to the project, while she did all of the work. This didn't upset Kelsey because she did not want to spend too much time with the other girl.

Kelsey waited at the door for Portman to stop talking to his black haired partner before heading to their next class, the two hour long lecture about the finer points of literature.

" Hey, you know you're supposed to be taking it easy." he admonished as he exited the classroom. " Give me that bag, and I won't have to tickle you."

Kelsey easily gave up her bag, not wanting to be tickled. She wouldn't be able to defend herself with her injured arm.

" You're becoming soft, Paris." he joked as he pulled the bag onto his shoulder and walked beside her down the crowded hallway.

* * *

**A.N.- This chapter was a little hard to expand on, bu****t I tried my best. I hope the new direction of the story is good with you guys. Please leave reviews or criticisms if you feel the need to. I appreciate any and all feedback that I receive. Also, in case you have not realized it, I have now taken down the**** chapters that have yet to be revised. ****If you wish to read them, please check out my profile for the link to my Live Journal**** (it is listed as my homepage)****. ****Again, thank you all so much for checking out this story!**


	5. Kylie, Kylie, Kylie

**Chapter 5: Kylie,Kylie, Kylie**

Kelsey spent the entire hockey practice watching from the sideline with Coach Orion. Julie had been right, and their coach agreed that she would not be benched for any games unless her arm had not healed properly. He was not too pleased that she decided against reporting Riley's antics to the dean, but also understood there would be no way that the dean would punish him. After practice, Dean graciously offered to walk her home, leaving Charlie feeling put off for not beating Portman to the option. The duo walked quickly to Kelsey's apartment, with her joking about his "manly" smell.

The only thing preventing him from chasing Kelsey the rest of the way to her place was the fact that she did have a broken arm. After getting into the house, Kelsey quickly slipped off her shoes as Portman tossed all of her things into the armchair by the door.

" You could stay for dinner," she offered, hoping she wasn't blushing.

She had spent the moments Coach Orion was doing his job thinking about how confused she was. Both Charlie and Dean were great guys, with differing personalities, yet she liked the company of both. Charlie was the type of guy she always had crushes on, while Dean was someone who had been a childhood friend. A rebellious childhood friend who had grown into a handsome bad boy.

" Babe, with the rank I have going on-"

" I do have a shower upstairs. So, go take one." she replied without really thinking. She caught the look on his face and added, "Besides, you promised me that you would help with my biology assignment that I barely managed to get an extension on."

Portman conceded and started up the stairs. " Any chance in you joining me, babe?"

Kelsey felt her jaw drop. " You better be thanking your lucky stars you're already up the stairs and that my arm is broken."

Portman laughed as he finished climbing the stairs.

Kelsey made her way into the kitchen, noticing a note her father had left on the fridge:

_Kels,_

_I left you money on the table, so order yourself a pizza. Save me some, and no anchovies! I'll see you as soon as I get off of work._

_-Dad_

Kelsey shook her head after she finished reading the note, and went to the living room. After searching the phone book for a pizza place, she put in an order for two pizzas. No sooner had she hung up the phone, Portman came down the stairs, his damp black hair slicked back.

He winked at Kelsey as he picked up her bag and started towards the kitchen. The teenage girl followed behind him, shaking her head over his antics.

" I cannot believe I have to work with Kylie." Kelsey moaned an hour later as Dean threw down the pencil in triumph.

They had finished her biology assignment, with Portman claiming he had never written so much in his life.

" Well, you should tell Mr. Clark that ya want a new partner." Portman said with a shrug.

" Yeah, but there isn't much of a point. I'll just have to do the whole project by myself." Kelsey said dully.

On the table in front of them sat a half eaten pizza, along with a nearly empty two liter of Pepsi.

" You'll manage." Portman assured her as he helped himself to more of the food.

" It's just a pain to have to do all of the work, then still contribute to a speech."

" You could just ask to do the project on your own. Mr. Clark is a cool dude."

Kelsey opened her mouth to reply, but was stopped by the phone ringing.

" I'll be back in a moment." she uttered as she went into the living room and picked up the phone.

" Hello." Julie's voice came through the line. " Is Kelsey there?"

" Hey, it's me. Are you still studying with Scooter?" Kelsey asked, sitting on the arm of the couch.

" He went back to his college dorm 30 minutes ago. So, is everything okay? Do you need me to come over?" Julie asked, sounding rather guilty.

" No, it's ok. Portman is over." she answered before continuing with the one subject on her mind. " So, who do you have to do your project with?"

" Guy." Julie sighed. " I'll probably have to do most of it. Who do you have to do yours with?"

" Kylie. This is going to be torture." Kelsey groaned.

" I feel sorry for you." Julie said.

" That's nice to know." Kelsey said sarcastically. " It's the general consensus of everyone who knows. But, I guess I'll manage. It's better than having Averman or Luis."

" That is so true. I actually think they're partnered together, though." Julie laughed.

" I pity that class period." Kelsey agreed as she chuckled. " And, poor Mr. Clark."

" Well, I have to call my parents now." Julie said as they stopped laughing. " I just wanted to make sure you were doing alright."

" Bye." Kelsey said before hanging up the phone.

" So, who was it?" Portman asked as he finished another slice of pizza, his dark eyes narrowing.

" Julie."

" What's the Cat Lady up to?" he asked nonchalantly, hoping Kelsey didn't pick up the noticeable difference in his mood.

" Not much. She has to do her project with Guy. I wish I was her." Kelsey said wistfully as she sat down. She tried to tear a slice of pizza from the three that were left, but had difficulty.

Portman held the other slices down so she could tear a piece off. He knew that she hated having everything done for her.

" You know, you could play a game on my Playstation if you want." she offered as she swallowed a bite of the pizza.

" Dude, what games do you have?" Portman said excitedly, grateful for the escape from listening to Kelsey complain about their history projects.

" Pretty much everything." she shrugged, realizing that it sounded pretty snobbish as she said it. " But, my favorite is Resident Evil."

Portman took that as a hint to play that game, so he got up from the kitchen table and headed into the living room.

" It's in the shelf that the television is sitting on." Kelsey said as she came into the room with the rest of the pizza balanced precariously on a plate.

Portman took the plate from her and set it onto the couch. " You stay put while I get the soda."

Kelsey rolled her eyes as she sat down on the sofa, and waited for him to come back into the room.

" Everything is already plugged in," she explained as he sat their glasses down onto the floor next to the sofa. " Do you know how to play it?"

" Yeah. My cousin has this game."

Kelsey watched Portman play the game until she began to yawn from being tired. She checked the time as Portman cleaned up the living room, and a frown crossed her face.

" My dad should have been here an hour ago." Kelsey said, becoming upset.

Caleb was rarely ever late, and the times that he was, he would always call his daughter to keep her from worrying.

" Maybe he has to work later than you thought." Portman said as he placed their glasses into the sink.

" But, he promised he would be here on time." Kelsey said worriedly as she followed him into the kitchen.

" Calm down. Call to see if he is at work." Portman suggested, knowing that he sounded uncaring, but he just didn't want her to worry over nothing.

"Okay." Kelsey went back into the living room, picked up the phone, and dialed the number. "Hi, Mrs. Roseland, it's Kelsey. Is my dad still at the office?"

" He left nearly two hours ago. Hasn't he called you or anything?" the secretary said.

" No. Thanks, though." Kelsey hung up the phone, a flash of panic going through her body.

" Was he there?" Portman asked as he came out of the kitchen.

" He left two hours ago. Maybe he got caught in traffic." Kelsey thought aloud.

" I doubt it. Rush hour was nearly five hours ago." Portman said, cringing when he realized that he was not helping to calm her down at all.

Kelsey's pondering frown turned into a deeper one as bad thoughts came to mind.

" Okay, Kelsey, just calm down. Maybe he had to do something." Portman said, trying to calm her down.

" Maybe." Kelsey was now on the verge of tears.

" It's okay." Portman said soothingly, moving closer to her to rub her right arm.

Kelsey put her good arm around him and began to cry.

" It's going to be okay. Don't worry." he said trying to get her to quit crying.

He knew he was not making things any better, but did not know what to tell the crying girl in front of him. 'This would be a good time to have one of the chicks around.' he thought glumly as he wrapped his arms around Kelsey's waist and pulled her closer. She continued to sob as he awkwardly rubbed the small of her back, hoping her dad would show up soon.

No sooner had the thought been borne, the telephone began to ring.

* * *

**A.N.- Thank you guys so much for continuing to read this work of fiction :-) I am so grateful for all of the wonderful readers who have added this story to their favorite stories list. You all are so awesome! ****Feel f****ree to leave any comments of criticisms :-)**


	6. Kiss,Kiss

**Chapter Six- An Accident and...a Kiss?**

Kelsey stared at the ringing telephone, willing it to either be her dad or to be someone calling with the wrong number.

" Please, oh please don't be hurt." she begged at the phone, wanting beyond all hope for it to listen to her.

Portman jerkily picked the phone up, realizing that Kelsey just could not will herself to do it.

" Hello?" he supplied as he looked over the shaking girl's shoulder.

" I'm Nurse Wright from Minneapolis General Hospital. Is Miss Kelsey Paris at this residence?" the nurse asked.

" She's not up to answering the phone at the moment." Portman replied into the receiver, perhaps more harshly than he had meant to.

" Could you inform Miss Paris that her father was in a car accident, and that he really needs to speak to her? He has surgery in about 30 minutes, so please relay this to her quickly."

" Uh, of course." he answered, already knowing how badly this was going to turn out when he had to tell the scared young lady in front of him

" Thank you." the nurse ended the call before the teenager could utter another word.

Portman placed the phone back onto the receiver, and pushed back his large shoulders. " Kels-"

" He's hurt, isn't he?" Kelsey blurted out before he could even say anything. She had a look in her eyes begging it to be untrue.

" I have to call my mom." Portman said quickly. He just couldn't bring himself to tell her, and he knew that his mom could help him with this emergency situation.

" Tell me!" Kelsey practically screamed.

Portman dialed the phone number at his house in Chicago. " Mom, I know it's really short notice, but I need you here quick. Yeah, I know, but it's Kelsey's pops..." he trailed off as he listened to his mother. "Thanks. I'll call you as soon as we get there."

" How bad was it?" Kelsey said through tears.

She had quickly inferred from the brief conversation that her father was indeed injured and that the situation was not looking too well.

" He has to have a surgery." Portman said, while helping Kelsey to the sofa. " Just keep cool and I'll get us a ride there."

" He's going to die." Kelsey wailed as her companion picked the phone up again and cradled it between his shoulder and chin.

" It's going to be okay." Portman said while patting her shoulder. " Hey, man, do ya think your mom could give Kels and me a ride to the hospital? It's kinda an emergency."

" It will not. Nothings okay. Why do you always have to tell me that?" Kelsey said through sobs.

Portman sighed before quickly explaining to Fulton where exactly Kelsey lived. As soon as he finished, he placed the phone back into its proper place and grabbed his leather jacket and both his and Kelsey's bags. " Babe, lets lock up and wait for Ms. Reed to get here."

He grabbed the keys to the house that Kelsey carried with her, and helped her out the front door. She sat onto the stoop and cried loudly as he locked up.

" Why do bad things always happen to me?" she sobbed as he sat down beside her.

Not wanting to upset her further, he settled for putting an arm around her waist and allowed her to cry onto his shoulder. The pair had barely been on the stoop for five minutes when a car came to a screeching halt in front of the apartment building.

" Get her to the car." Ms. Reed exclaimed through a window that Fulton had furiously rolled down.

Portman scooped Kelsey up quickly along with their belongings and placed them all unceremoniously into the vehicle.

" I want to see him now." Kelsey said, tears still streaming down her face.

" Well, if my mom would hurry up, we could be there by now." Fulton said rather impatiently.

Ms. Fulton glared at her son before putting the car back into drive. " How bad is it?"

" He has to be in surgery in about 20 minutes." Portman told his best friend's mother.

After breaking every speed limit in town, they managed to get there in seven minutes. Dean quickly thanked Ms. Reed for her help and ushered the emotional girl into the large hospital. Taking a few moments to pause at the information desk to ask a nurse where Caleb was, the hulking teen hurriedly took Kelsey to see her father.

" Daddy!" Kelsey exclaimed as she burst into the room and ran directly to him.

" Hey, how's my girl?" her father asked, cuts marring his handsome face.

" What happened?" Kelsey pleaded, resisting the urge to throw her arms around her battered dad.

" Let's just say, it involved our jeep and a van. It wouldn't have been so bad if the person weren't under the influence of alcohol." Caleb said through a weak smile.

" Daddy, I love you." Kelsey kissed her father.

" I love you, too. Now, don't be scared." Caleb knew that his daughter was about to breakdown. " I'm not hurt as bad as your mom."

" Okay, honey, it's time to leave." a nurse said kindly as she came into the room with some other medical staff. " The surgery shouldn't take more than a couple hours."

Kelsey walked out of the room with some help from Portman. No sooner had they made it to the waiting room, than a doctor was joining them. After explaining that the surgery was a precaution to remove Caleb's badly injured spleen that had the potential to burst at any moment, the teenager calmed down somewhat. She turned in her chair to face Portman, who turned at that moment to look at her.

Dean wiped the tears from her eyes and cupped her face in his hand. " He's going to be fine, Kels, I mean it. And, I will stay here the entire night just so you won't be here all by yourself."

" You really don't have to do that, Dean." she said, placing a hand on his knee. " I will be-"

" Nope, not getting rid of me." he said with a smirk. " But, seriously, babe, I need to call my mom to see when she can get here. So, stay put."

" Yes, master." she said, sticking out her tongue.

" Want anything from the snack bar?" he asked as he got up from the uncomfortable gray chair.

He took off his leather jacket and placed it onto the chair that their book bags were occupying.

" No thanks." the young lady replied as she slouched back into her chair, trying to block out the blandness of the white and gray waiting area. It was devoid of other fretfully waiting families, and the only sound apart from their voices was the television.

" A soda and a bag of chips it is." he said, grinning as she rolled her eyes.

* * *

Two and a half hours later, the pair of teenagers were still sitting in the completely empty waiting area. While Kelsey was dozing in the chair next to the left of Portman, her head on his shoulder, the darker teen was anxiously awaiting the arrival of his mother. Though he had finally convinced his fairer companion to eat the bag of cheese curls he had bought her, he was not having any luck on dispelling her worries. Thankfully, she had dozed off half an hour ago, allowing him to contemplate new things he could say as she woke up. A figure moving into the area startled him, but the excited leap his stomach gave instead turned into a lurch as he realized the woman slinking gracefully into the room was not his mom. The jerk he gave as the lady walked into the room caused Kelsey to wake up, but her small smile quickly faded into a stern frown. She furrowed her eyebrows as she gave her stepmother a look of complete disgust.

" How is he?" Marion asked in a voice as warm as a summer breeze, which almost made Kelsey get up to slap her.

Matters were not helped at all that Marion looked like she had just came back from a dinner party, a smile of contentment gracing her delicate round face.

" He was in a car accident. What do you think?" Kelsey snapped, making a move to get up from the chair.

Portman managed to stop her from vacating the seat, but the angered girl still had her right fist clenched.

" Take that tone with me again, and you'll be wishing you were in it." Marion threatened.

" Why, hello, Marion. How have you been?" Gina Portman said purposefully as she entered the room.

Her son bore a striking resemblance to her, but the much shorter woman had a more feminine look about her. Luckily for her, she had managed to catch a flight out of Chicago within twenty minutes of her son's frantic phone call. After sequestering a vehicle from the airport and obtaining directions, she had made a mad dash for the hospital. Her black hair was completely disheveled and she was in sweat pants and a sweater that clearly supported her son's previous hockey team. The look of contempt that she leveled Marion could not any more clearly relate to the other woman how much she disliked her.

" Busy. You can leave now. I'm sure Kelsey would like to spend some quality time with me." Marion said through a fake smile.

" I would rather not, but if that is what Kelsey wants, I'll honor her request." Gina said with narrow eyes.

Kelsey heaved a great sigh as she looked between the two women. " Um, I think it wouldn't hurt for you guys to leave."

Portman opened his mouth to protest, but his mother shot him a look that made him close it again.

" But," Kelsey continued, " if it is all right with you, Mama P., I would like to talk to Dean for a couple of minutes."

" Of course. Be in the car in 10 minutes." Gina told Portman. She hugged Kelsey, murmuring, " If you need me back here, don't you hesitate to give me a call."

She slipped Kelsey a paper with her cellphone number as she walked out to the elevator.

Kelsey nodded her head towards the door as she placed the note into her pocket. She watched as Portman pulled his worn black leather jacket over his arms before shouldering his bag. After a withering look at Marion, who was sitting in a chair paging through a magazine, she left the area. She walked silently beside of Portman down the clean hallway and stopped in front of the elevator. Luckily, there was not a nurses' station on the floor, due to it being just a waiting area and food court that was empty at the moment. Kelsey looked at the clock above the food court and realized that it was well after midnight.

" I'm sorry for-"

" It's okay." he interrupted her as he pushed the down button on the panel. " Mom's probably got a hotel rented in the city, so they can't catch me breaking curfew. And, you know it isn't a problem staying with you."

" But, it isn't fair t-"

" Shh." he said as he cupped her face in his hand, again. " Call me in the morning."

Kelsey could feel her heart flutter as she closed her sapphire eyes and felt him tip her oval face upwards. The kiss lasted for only a few moments, leaving her in a state of confusion and longing for more. Instead, Portman released her as the doors dinged open, and moments later he was gone.

Kelsey stood stunned, staring disbelievingly at the place that he had just left her. She realized her mouth was slightly opened, so she quickly closed it, despite there not being a single person on the floor besides herself and her wicked stepmother.

" Kelsey Alexandria Paris. What took you so long?" Marion raged as the surprised teenager came back into the room.

" Take a chill pill, Marion. Since I'm sure you haven't, I'm calling Aunt Rosa. She is my dad's only sibling, after all." Kelsey said as she turned heel and left the area in search of a pay-phone.

Diverting her gaze from the mocking elevator, she found the pay-phones on the other side of the massive deserted food court. Tucking the phone under her chin, she pushed two quarters into the slot for a long distance call. She just hoped Aunt Rose would answer the phone because she was very much sick of her stepmother already. After several rings, the line was finally picked up.

" Hello, who is this?" Rosa asked into the phone, sounding very groggy.

" Aunt Rosa, this is Kelsey. Um, Daddy was in a accident, and-"

" I'll catch the next flight out, hon." Kelsey could hear her aunt rummaging through a dresser. " Take care until I get there. I love you, sweetheart."

" I will. Love you. " Kelsey hung up the phone, sighing with dread. It would be a few hours until her aunt could rescue her from the evil clutches of her nefarious stepmother. Where on earth was her knight in shining armor?

" Having mommy take care of him, no doubt." she muttered under her breath as she went back into the depressing waiting room.

" Did you call her?" Marion asked. She was still looking at a fashion magazine.

" Yes. She'll be here as soon as possible." Kelsey replied, glad that her stepmother had not even looked up from her enthralling magazine.

" That's great." Marion said sarcastically, turning the page.

Kelsey wasn't paying attention. Her mind was a jumble of thoughts concerning how her dad was doing, how terribly this school year had started, and why Portman had kissed her and left without a second thought.

* * *

**A.N.-****A.N.- Thank you, everyone, for your continued support :-) I have went back and changed some things dealing with my mistakes with some character's names. It took me a good portion of time, but I finally found a very nice website that has the Mighty Ducks novels uploaded to it. This gave me the ability to correctly name Riley and Cole. Anyway, the next chapter will be one of the last chapters to contain information from the original fan fiction. Also, I would like to apologize if this story does seem a little less than real at times. I know how hard it would be to get a flight short notice at such an early time in the morning, but really, it does not take more than two hours to fly from Chicago to Minneapolis. So, I'll leave you guys to judge how realistic this could be. As always, any questions, comments, or criticisms are extremely helpful :-)**


	7. Aunt Rosa Arrives

**Chapter Seven- Aunt Rose Arrives**

Kelsey was pacing the hallway between the waiting area and food court worriedly, glancing at the clock on the wall every time she walked the length of the deserted hallway and turned around to repeat the pattern. She had been doing this every since Portman and his mother had left her in the hands of her inept stepmother.

" Great. It's just 1:00." Kelsey muttered.

Her father had gone into surgery nearly three hours ago, and no one had told her or Marion anything. Of course, this could deal with the fact that Kelsey wasn't exactly speaking to Marion, but Kelsey had yet to see a nurse or doctor come walking onto the vacant floor since her pacing had begun.

" Miss Paris, your father is out of surgery." a nurse said as she neared the teenager who had just stopped in front of the opening elevator doors.

" Oh, thank you so much." Kelsey sighed gratefully. " When can I see him?"

" In about 30 minutes or later. The anesthesia needs time to wear off." the nurse said with a small smile.

" Thank you." the young lady repeated as she turned to go back to the waiting room and inform her stepmother of the news.

" He's out of surgery." Kelsey told her stepmother as she entered the gloomy waiting area.

" Okay." Marion didn't even look up from the magazine she was looking at.

Kelsey bit her tongue as she collapsed into the uncomfortable gray chair she had been occupying earlier. No sooner had the exhausted girl gotten as comfortable she would ever get in the unreasonable chair, she was sound asleep.

* * *

While having perhaps one of the more pleasant dreams the half Norwegian had had in a while, she was interrupted from the neural creation by a gentle shaking of her shoulder and a hushed, " Kelsey, wake up."

" What?" Kelsey asked groggily, mildly upset that she had just been woken from a dream involving her nearly winning the Olympic gold medal in figure skating.

" You better wake-up, so you can see your father before I take you home."

With that sentence, Kelsey bolted into a standing position, focusing her deep blue eyes onto her Aunt Rosa Morrison.

The older woman had the same sandy blond hair and bright green eyes as her brother, and was slightly shorter than Kelsey, who stood at a firm five feet, eight inches tall. Whereas her younger brother had a more square face, Rosa had a delicate oval face like her niece. Her curly chin length hair was pulled into a disheveled ponytail at the back of her head, which was currently shaking with amusement.

" What time is it?" Kelsey asked as she tightly hugged her aunt.

" It is," Rosa said as she glanced down at her watch, " six thirty in the morning, Miss Kelsey."

" How long have you been here?" Kesley asked as she took in the fact that her aunt was slightly better dressed than Gina Portman had been.

The older woman was in a pair of blue jeans, with a black cardigan pulled over a green shirt, and a pair of clean sneakers.

" You are full of questions." Rosa shook her head. " I've been here since four, but your father and I both agree that you needed to get some sleep before we woke you. Now, let's go and see your father. And, since I know you just want to know this, Marion left here about ten minutes after I set up shop. She said all of five words to your dad before she left."

Kelsey rolled her eyes as she grabbed her bag and her aunt shouldered her large purse and carry-on bag. The two of them walked to the elevators and proceeded to the floor that Caleb was currently recovering on.

" Hi, Caleb," Rosa said softly as she entered the room, " look who I found."

The injured man was the only one currently occupying the double occupancy room, which meant that he would surely have another patient to talk to at some point.

" Well, who could it be?" Caleb said with a yawn. " Oh, it's my little girl."

" Hi, daddy." Kelsey said as she came to a stop at the head of the bed.

" How do you feel?" Rosa asked with concern, taking in the cuts and bruises

" The same as I did when you asked me fifteen minutes ago: horrible." Caleb answered truthfully. " But, really, I think I look worse than I feel."

" How long do you have to stay here?" Kelsey asked, ignoring her father's attempts to lighten the situation.

" I don't really know." Caleb said thoughtfully. " Probably a few days. Maybe a week."

" Well, I hate to cut this reunion short, but I think Kelsey should be going home to get ready for school." Rosa said, earning a frown from the sullen teenager.

Caleb quickly agreed as his daughter opened her mouth to protest. " She's right, Kelsey. I know you're tired, and want to be here, but your education is important. And, how can I hit on nurses with you around."

" Dad." Kelsey groaned.

Caleb chuckled as Rosa rolled her eyes up to the ceiling. " Clearly, the accident must have made his brain turn to mush because he's being more delusional than before."

" All right, kisses before you go." her dad said as he stopped laughing. " I love you, baby girl."

" Bye, daddy. I love you." Kelsey kissed her father on the cheek, then left the room.

" He's going to get better." Rosa reassured her niece as she came out of the recovery room.

" I know. Aunt Rosa, are you going to be here until daddy gets out of the hospital?" Kelsey asked as they walked to the stairway.

Her aunt was a fitness nut, and had allowed them to take the elevators the first time only because Kelsey was still just waking up.

" I'll be here for at least two more days. I can't miss work for a long time." Rosa looked at Kelsey. " Maybe you guys should move to Chicago. That way you can be around me and your cousins."

" I don't know." Kelsey said as they reached the bottom of the steps and they went outside. " How are we getting back to our place? I don't have a car, and the bus doesn't run this early."

" I managed to get a nice rental car this morning." Rosa beamed as she pulled the keys out of a pocket of her jeans.

* * *

Kelsey opened the front door fifteen minutes later and ran to her bedroom. She took as quick shower as her injured arm would allow her, before retreating to her room to decide on what to wear. She had just finished putting on her most comfortable outfit, when she realized that it was picture day. After changing out of her so very comfortable AE pants and a size too big t-shirt, she found a more picture day suitable outfit: a cream knee length, strapless dress paired with the only cardigan (which was black) from her closet that would stretch over the cast on her left arm. It was a struggle, but after ten minutes, Kelsey had won that battle. She pulled her navy blue sling back on and gently put her injured arm back in it. She quickly stepped into her black peep toe pumps after the moment of pain subsided, before going back to the bathroom to plug in her curling iron.

" Aunt Rosa?" she called from the top of the stairs.

" What, dear?" her aunt answered as she walked to the bottom of the stairs.

" Could you curl my hair? Today's picture day, and I want to at least look somewhat decent." she grumbled as she gave the unsightly sling a dirty look.

Rosa nodded and came up the stairs and followed her niece into the bathroom.

" Well, you look nice." Rosa commented fifteen minutes later.

Kelsey's blond hair was perfectly fixed into loose curls that framed her oval face. Her aunt had helped her apply a little mascara, gray shadow, along with some lip gloss and foundation.

" Thanks." she yawned as she followed her aunt back to the kitchen.

" Ready to go?"

" Yes." Kesley said as she grabbed her bag. " Oh, no, wait I need to call Portman."

" I'll wait for you out in the car, sweetheart." Rosa said as she grabbed her purse and headed out the door.

Kesley fished in her bag for Mrs. Portman's cellphone number and quickly dialed it.

" Hello, Mrs. Portman." Kelsey said as she answered the phone.

Before the teen could say why she was calling, she could hear Gina calling for her son.

" Hey, Kels." he answered after his mother handed him the phone.

" Hey. Where are you?" Kelsey asked.

" About to leave for school." he answered with a sigh. " How's your dad?"

" He's okay. He may have to stay in the hospital for a few days or more, but he seems to be fine."

" I'm sure he is." Portman agreed with a yawn. " I'll see you at school in a bit, ba- Kels."

Kelsey chuckled. " All right."

She hung up the phone and shouldered her messenger bag. She locked the door and headed out to the street to get into Rosa's rental car.

" What was that about?" Rosa asked as she put the vehicle into drive.

" I promised Portman I would call him." Kelsey explained.

" Oh. He's a good kid." Rosa commented as she pulled onto the street. " Most of the time."

" I know."

" Would you like to stop at McDonald's or someplace to get some breakfast? I'm sure you haven't had a meal since last night."

" Sounds good to me." Kelsey answered, not really caring if she was late for class or not.

* * *

**7:30 a.m. at the school**

Kelsey was sitting with Connie and Julie on a blanket that Connie had brought along under "the tree", eating her breakfast. The other Ducks were either eating breakfast in the dining hall or still hadn't arrived.

" I'm so sorry your dad was in an accident." Connie sadly said after Kelsey filled them in on, almost, everything.

" Yeah, it really sucks." Kelsey looked down at her stretched out legs, trying to avoid their gazes and the crumbs that littered the skirt portion of her dress.

" You're not telling us everything." Julie said knowingly. " Spill."

" I would, but I can't." Kelsey said, still looking at her feet.

" Why?" Connie asked, her curiosity piqued by Kelsey's attempt to be secretive. " Is it about a boy?"

" Come on, Kelsey. We won't tell." Julie said with a pleading look.

" Hey, ladies." Fulton said, giving Kelsey a ticket to change the subject.

" Hi." Julie said.

" Tell your mom thanks for last night. I really appreciate it."

Fulton blushed and nervously shuffled his feet as he stuck his hands into the pockets of his torn blue jeans. " It was no big deal."

" Where's the other Bash Brother?" Connie asked, pushing her light brown hair behind her ears.

Unlike her more casually dressed roommate, Connie was wearing a floral print white skirt and a pink blouse to match, with white sandals. Picture day to the more "girly" Duck was a very serious matter, and she wanted to look good.

" At his locker." Fulton sat down on the grass, beside of Kelsey who was sitting on the edge of the blanket. " What's up?"

" Not too much. My arm is doing somewhat better." Kelsey looked at her sling covered arm, and sighed. Before she had gotten out of the car to head to the meeting spot, her aunt had thankfully noticed that her right sleeve of her cardigan was not pushed up over the elbow like the left side, saving the girl from the embarrassment of trying to fix it herself if she ever did take note of it. "I think I'll get a head start to class."

" I'll help you up." Fulton stood up and held out his left hand to Kelsey.

Kelsey grabbed onto it and pulled herself up, noticing how Fulton was prepared to catch her if she teetered. " Thanks."When she took her hand out of his grasp, she felt a piece of paper.

" Take it." Fulton whispered, helping her to shoulder her messenger bag.

Kelsey raised an eyebrow and walked a distance before she opened the note with a little difficulty.

_Hey Kels,_

_Meet me at the tree as soon as the bell rings for lunch._

Kelsey placed the note into her locker after she opened it, and exchanged her books and notebooks for the ones she needed. After locking up, she walked to her first period; but couldn't keep her mind on the subject. She kept wondering what Portman wanted, and how she honestly felt about him.

* * *

**A.N.-****The next chapter will start out like the original Chapter Eight, but will begin the new direction I am taking this work of fiction in. Thank you all for the support :-) Reviews are greatly appreciated and lovingly accepted.**


	8. Caught up in Confusion

**Chapter Eight- Caught up in Confusion**

As soon as the bell rang for lunch, Kelsey darted out of her math class. She slowed down after she put her books away, and walked to the tree. She thought about what she was going to say, and then waited for Portman to show up. 'I'm in such a deep hole.' Kelsey thought to herself. 'I like Portman, but is it worth messing up an awesome friendship?' Kelsey frowned when she realized it was at least five minutes after the bell had rang.

" Where is he?" she asked aloud, ignoring the strange looks she received from a couple of freshmen walking by.

" Hey, Kelsey, what ya doin' out here?" Russ asked her as he walked by.

" I'm waiting for someone." Kelsey simply explained, hoping she didn't sound rude.

" See ya later." he waved as he continued walking to the dining hall.

'He's not coming.' Kelsey thought sadly, hoping she didn't look as dumb as she felt waiting all alone by a tree.

Just as she was about to admit defeat and go to the cafeteria, the bulky senior leveled with her at the meeting spot.

" Hey, babe, sorry I got held up." he was now leaning up against the tree, beside of her. " What's up?"

" Nothing." Kelsey quickly said. Actually nothing was wrong, now. "So, why are we out here?"

" Did you skip lunch?" he asked, purposely ignoring the question.

" I wasn't hungry." Kelsey replied. "We get out of the first block of English today."

" Oh, yeah. Pictures." Portman looked into Kelsey's piercing eyes. "You look really nice."

" Aunt Rosa helped me." she confessed, barely resisting the urge to start twirling her flaxen locks.

' Argh.' she inwardly groaned as she settled with smoothing her dress down instead.

" I didn't know she was here."

" I called her last night, and she got here just a few hours ago." Kesley paused for a moment, wondering if she should just quickly find out what Portman wanted or to beat around the bush for the whole lunch period. She chose the first choice. "So, what did you want to talk about?"

Portman looked a little nervous. " I just...you know...last night-"

Kelsey could feel her stomach drop. She knew he never got nervous about stuff, so he must regret the night before. "Oh. You know, we could just forget about it, if you want."

Portman opened his mouth to say something, but closed it.

" I'll see you around, then." she said with a frown as she started walking off to the school, not realizing that Portman was just opening his mouth to say what he was thinking.

" I want ya to be my gal." he murmured as leaned his head against the tree.

* * *

Kelsey was waiting for Kylie to arrive to the back corner of the spacious library to work on their history project. She looked at a clock moving soundlessly on the wall, and realized that she had been waiting nearly an hour after school for the girl to show up. Due to the Warriors having a pre-season game later that day, practice had been canceled, so Kelsey had arranged a few days prior to work on the project with Kylie.

'She's 30 minutes late.' Kelsey thought angrily.

Even though Kelsey had arrived early enough to have the basic skeleton of the paper outlined, she still expected the cheerleader to be on time to at least assist her. Especially since her scrawling was barely legible due to her writing with her right hand. Really, she had just meant to highlight key points in the articles she had printed off in the library, but could not resist the temptation to start working on the assignment when she had noticed that the other girl was running ten minutes late.

Kelsey heard the library door open, and fleetingly hoped that it was her tardy partner. Instead, the heavy footsteps that stopped directly in front of her table in the nearly empty library were none other than Trevor Riley's.

" Can we talk?" he whispered.

" Sure." Kelsey said skeptically, leaving her things in the library.

Perhaps the jerk had come to finally apologize to her and to offer to pay for her hospital bill. Too bad none of the other Ducks were around to see this.

Kelsey walked out into the hallway, attempting to cross her arms, but realized how silly she looked. She settled with placing her right hand on her hip, while cocking her head to the left.

" Kylie wanted me to tell you that she couldn't make it. She said you need to meet her at her locker tomorrow before the bell rings." Trevor put a hand onto her right shoulder, before planting the other onto the left side of her waist. " Seeing as how pretty you look today, how about you go to the movies with me?"

" Get off you creep." Kelsey said fiercely, as she attempted to get away from him. It was a fruitless struggle seeing as how she was already injured due to his pushiness.

" What's the matter? You don't want me to touch you?" Riley sneered as he pulled her closely to him.

" Get off." Kelsey spat maliciously, wondering why no teachers had showed up yet.

" Hey, Trevor, man, leave the girl alone."

Kelsey sighed in relief as she saw Charlie and Russ round the corner of the hallway. Trevor immediately let go of her but not before whispering, " This isn't over."

" Want us to beat him to a pulp?" Russ questioned as he sneered at the retreating hockey player, a fist tightly curled at his side.

Kelsey just leaned against the wall of the library, her eyes tightly shut as she tried to slow her breathing down.

" You okay?" Charlie questioned, noticing how pale she looked.

" Yeah." she whispered. " I just need to call my aunt to come take me home."

" You can come over to the dorms." Russ offered. " Call her from there and wait for her with us."

" Yeah, that would be a good idea." Charlie added.

" I need to get my things from the library." Kelsey said as she accepted their offer.

" Where were you sitting?" Russ asked. " I'll get your stuff for you while Charlie walks you over to the dorms."

Kelsey explained where she had been sitting and gratefully left with Charlie. After waiting for Ken to sign them in, they entered the building and followed the former figure skater to the room he shared with Dwayne. The room was rather tidy, and empty, much to Kelsey's delight because the less Ducks she saw at the moment, the more time she could compose herself.

" Dwayne's out with Jenny Mathis." Ken explained, earning a shocked look from Charlie and a slightly confused one from Kelsey. " She's a sophomore on the equestrian team. So, what are you doing here so late in the afternoon, Charlie?"

" Oh, just helping Linda with her latest petition." he sighed. " Thank God, Russ came to rescue me with his excuse of desperately needing me to help him with our project."

" Could I use your phone, Ken?" Kelsey asked as she finally composed herself.

" Oh, sure. It's on my desk." he pointed to a neatly arranged desk.

Kelsey dialed out her home phone number and waited for her aunt to answer. " Hey, Aunt Rosa, I'm ready to leave...No, I have to meet her in the morning, so I did as much as I could...Ok, I'll see you in a bit."

She placed the phone back onto the receiver and sat down in the chair pulled out at Dwayne's desk. " Thanks."

" You're welcome." Ken said, perplexed. " Did something happen?"

" I don't really want to talk about it, now." she admitted.

There was a knock on the door, then Russ entered looking slightly harassed. " Your little lover and his crony just cornered me out by the science building. I may have to give him a little LA a-"

" Russ," Charlie said pointedly, " you'll get kicked off the team."

" And, probably out of school." Ken added.

" I don't really care." he loudly asserted. " It's just not right for them to be picking on us still."

Unfortunately for them, Russ had left the door ajar. A moment later, Connie and Julie had entered the slightly crowded room.

" What's going on?" Connie demanded, her arms crossed and a frown on her face.

Charlie cut Russ off and answered, " Riley tried to put some moves on Kelsey, but we stopped him."

" What is that creep's problem?" Julie sighed exasperatedly.

" I don't know." Kelsey said as she crossed her legs.

" Maybe he's getting back at us over last year?" Ken thought out loud.

The other Ducks looked at him, with Connie saying, " That does make sense," while Julie nodded her head in agreement.

" But, still, no reason to take it out on Kelsey." Russ said angrily.

" Oh, it's no reason to take it out on Kelsey, especially since she wasn't even going here last year." Connie said. " I wish we could just report him."

" We can't report him to the dean because Riley's dad has his hands tied." Julie reminded her roommate.

" It's fine, guys." Kelsey sighed. "Riley's just got us stuck in a hole. We can't fight back because we have the potential of getting kicked off the team and possibly expelled, and all the teachers think he's a star pupil."

They continued to discuss their options for another ten minutes, when Charlie cleared his throat. " I think you're aunt should be getting here soon."

" Oh," Kelsey started, " you're right. Thanks so much, guys, but I need to get going. I'll see you all in the morning."

She took her bag from Russ, and started out the door.

" Wait, I'll walk you out to the front of the school." Charlie said, a blush tinging his neck. " You know, just to make sure the goons don't come by."

" Um, thanks." she accepted nervously as she walked down the hall with him.

The signed out at the front desk, then continued to walk to the front of campus. Their conversation consisted of the ever popular topic of the history projects, with the conversation coming to an end when Kelsey saw her aunt's rental car.

" Thanks again, Charlie." she said as she started walking to the vehicle. " Do you need a ride home?"

" Oh, no thanks. I have to work on my project with Russ so Linda doesn't think I'm lying to get out of helping her." he laughed.

" I'll see you around, then." she said as she got into the car.

" How was school today, Miss Kelsey?" Rosa questioned as they pulled out onto the road.

" It's a long story." she muttered. " I'll tell you about it over dinner."


	9. Dodging Duck Kisses

**Chapter Nine: Dodging Duck Kisses**

The Ducks were sitting in the locker room of the away team that they were playing against. Tonight's adversaries were the Blake Bears, and the Ducks were leading by one point. The team was on edge because this was the third game of the pre-season, and so far, they had a winning streak.

"Stay focused. Just one more quarter, and we can add another victory to the list." Orion stared Julie down. "Gaffney, don't let them score another goal."

With that, everyone grabbed their gear and headed back out onto the ice. Within two minutes, Connie put in another goal, bringing the score to 5-3. The Bears were not going down without a fight, and they seemed to have rallied together during the intermission. After nearly scoring another point, which Julie managed to deflect in the nick of time, the Ducks decided it was time to do whatever it took to keep the opposing team from scoring a goal. After a fierce battle for the puck, Charlie managed to score another goal with just 30 seconds left.

"Yes!" Charlie pumped his fist as he skated with the rest of the team back to the box.

After speaking with the other team, the gang headed back to the locker room to change out of their hockey gear and into their street clothes.

"Good game. We have some things to work on, but you did a good job." Coach Orion congratulated them as they were leaving the locker room. "Let's go home. Remember, practice is running longer on Monday since Varsity has an away game."

The team headed back out to the bus, all of them pretty pumped over the victory. Even though it was still the pre-season, if they managed a perfect season, it would be a slap in the face to the Warrior's celebrated JV team. With both teams vying for a slot in the state championships, the Ducks needed to play harder than the younger hockey players to bring home the trophy.

* * *

Kelsey glanced at the clock on the living room wall, resisting the urge to call the hospital for the millionth time. After two weeks of being in the hospital, her father was finally going to be coming home. However, her aunt Rosa had left nearly five hours ago, and still wasn't back. Just when she decided to finally get up, the sound of a key in the lock brought her attention to the opening front door. Her father managed a quick smile before unceremoniously flopping onto the sofa.

"We would have been back sooner, but we had to get a foam mattress pad for the guest bedroom for your highness." Rosa said as she dropped the large shopping bags onto the living room floor. "He isn't allowed to climb the stairs for at least another week or so, and he claims the guest bed is much too hard for him."

Kelsey stifled a laugh. "Well, that's what happens when you insist on getting a mattress at a garage sale."

"In my defense," Caleb said as he raised a hand up in the air, pointing with his index finger, "I like a good bargain. And, there isn't any point on buying super expensive furniture when we will be moving again."

"He means he's cheap." Rosa translated as she sat in the armchair. "Have you eaten dinner? It is after seven."

"No," Kelsey said as her aunt began to get up from the comfortable chair, "but I am going into the city to have dinner with the team."

Instead of sitting back down, Rosa grabbed her purse from the floor.

"You don't need to take me; I had plans on taking the bus." Kelsey said as her father frowned.

"I'm not sure I like the idea of you taking the bus, kiddo."

"Dad," the teenager sighed, "I am seventeen. I think I can handle riding the bus on my own. And, I'm taking my cellphone, so don't worry."

"She's right, Caleb." Rosa said with a smile. "Your little girl is growing up."

Kelsey nearly rolled her eyes. "I need to get going, but I should be back before curfew."

She kissed her dad on the cheek, grabbed her small bag, and headed out of the door. As she walked down the street to the bus stop, she pulled the purse over her shoulder and adjusted it diagonally across her chest, allowing it to rest onto the opposite hip. Since they were going to be eating at the Goldberg's diner, Kelsey was dressed casually in her black t-shirt, dark blue jeans, and Converses. Her flaxen hair was pulled up into a messy bun. She no longer had to wear the sling, but the cast was still going to be on for at least another two weeks. As soon as the bus door opened, she quickly got on, depositing the fare before finding a seat near the back. The bus wasn't very crowded, but since it was early on a Saturday, that was to be expected.

She sat idly in her seat, trying to keep her nerves from getting to her. Since the day at the tree, she hadn't really said much to Portman. Even when she did speak, he was very terse, keeping the conversation short before turning to talk to someone else. Matters were not made any better by the sudden iciness of her friend; Charlie had since taken up carrying her books for her to her classes, despite her adamant protests that she didn't even really need someone carrying them in the first place since she had a perfectly good bag.

As the bus came to the stop that she needed, she got up and exited the bus with a few strangers. The Goldbergs' diner was a block ahead, and was very busy looking, as always. She stepped into the heavenly smelling restaurant, and was immediately greeted by Julie and Connie, who had been waiting near the door for her.

"So?" she asked her grinning friends.

"We won!" Connie squealed. "We have one more scrimmage before the season starts, and then we'll have a perfect start to the season."

"Congratulations." Kelsey said warmly as the trio made their way to the back of the diner.

Two tables in the back, far removed from the rest of the customers sat the rest of the team. Their loud talking and messy eating were clearly the reasons for why they were so far apart from the general public.

"Look who finally made it." Averman said as Goldberg stole his plate of half-eaten French fries. "Hey!"

Kelsey sat at the least crowded table with Connie, Julie, Guy, Adam, and Charlie. She wasn't about to get French fries and ketchup from the warring Averman and Goldberg tossed onto her.

"So, I heard that you won." she smiled as Mrs. Goldberg came over with a turkey BLT, onion rings, and root beer float.

"It's on the house, sweetie." Mrs. Goldberg said as she sat the food down. "You could use a little meat on those bones."

"Thank you, Mrs. Goldberg. It looks great!"

The older woman made a motion with her hand before going back to the kitchen.

"The pre-season has been great." Adam said as they all went back to eating. "Hopefully we can keep it up, so the scouts have something to keep coming to the games for."

"Scouts this, scouts that." Charlie teased.

"I'm thinking of my future." Adam said as nearly everyone at the table rolled their eyes. "It's much easier to make it to the junior league if the couches know that you have great skills."

Kelsey put her sandwich down and picked up an onion ring. "Well, I think you're an amazing player, Adam, so you have nothing to worry about. But, I know what you mean. If I wanted a career in hockey, I would be totally worried about the scouts, too."

"See?" he said as he glared at Charlie.

"Well, I would rather hockey be more about fun, than worrying about my future." Charlie shrugged.

"I still think its fun. I just want to make sure that the scouts see that I have a future as a NHL player."

Over the next twenty minutes, the group small talked as they ate their dinners. Kelsey was having a really good time with her friends, but really wanted to move to the other table to talk to Portman. She was really confused about the whole situation. If he was so nervous about talking to her that day, why did he get mad when she told him not to worry about things and to just be friends?

She was yanked from her thoughts as the Bash Brothers got up from the table.

"Where are you two off to?" Julie asked as they started by their table.

Kelsey really wanted to know the answer, too, but didn't want to make things worse by actually asking it.

"None of-"

"The mall." Fulton interrupted his friend. "We're meeting up with a couple chicks and seeing a movie."

"Well," Connie said happily, "have fun. Wish someone would take me to the movies."

The duo left as Connie stared Guy down.

"I didn't know you wanted to see anything this week!" he defended. "I thought you wanted to wait until next week when that Notebook movie or whatever came out."

Connie gave a happy squeal before getting up from the booth and hugging Guy. "You're so sweet!"

Everyone else rolled their eyes as Mrs. Goldberg came out with the winning team's dessert.

* * *

Kelsey walked slowly to the bus stop, waving to her friends as they headed off the bus stop a few blocks away that would lead directly to the school. Since the route would go off in the opposite direction of Kelsey's apartment, she would end up having to walk the mile in between Eden Hall Academy and her place. While this was permissible during the day, it was a no-go situation at night. She sat on the bus stop bench, grateful that it was empty. She would use the time to herself to think about why she felt so upset over the fact that Portman was going on a date with another girl. What was he playing at? If he was mad at her for saying to just be friends, then why was he out with someone else? Why couldn't he just talk to her? Why-

"Hey, Kels." Charlie said as he sat down on the bench next to her.

"Oh, hi." she said with a puzzled look on her face. "I thought you would be going back to the school with the others?"

Charlie smiled sheepishly. "Well, this route is closer to where my mom and me live. I was going back with the others so I could see Linda before the dorm curfew, but I remembered that she had some meeting to plan for, so I decided to just go straight home."

Kelsey wasn't so sure he was telling the truth, but she didn't want to call him out on it. "I guess you're right. I forgot that you live only a couple blocks away from where I live."

"Yeah. So, when are you getting the cast off? We could really use you in the games."

"Hopefully before the second game, but even then, I might be benched for another month. The doctor doesn't want to stress my arm until it is completely healed."

"Oh, good." he said as the bus pulled in.

They quickly got onto the bus. Charlie sat beside of her as the bus started moving. "Maybe coach will let you play in Averman's place. He's a good player, but he isn't very fast."

"I've noticed that. He's too busy smart talking to actually get the puck moving. But, when he's actually focusing, he's good." she agreed.

They continued talking about the team and school as Kelsey's stop came up. She was about to wave to him when she noticed him getting off the bus, too.

'Oh, great.' she thought to herself as the bus continued on its route. 'Seriously, there is a bus stop close to his place.'

"I thought I should walk you to your door since it is so late." he said charmingly, causing Kelsey to stop being so mad.

"That's really nice of you, Charlie." she said as they walked to her apartment.

As they walked, her anger abated, but she couldn't shake the uneasy feeling she was getting. Sure, Charlie wasn't a creepy person, but she wasn't exactly getting a good vibe from all of the attention he had been giving her for the last week or so. She stopped in front of the steps leading to her apartment and dug her keys out of her bag. After pulling her front door key up, she looked at Charlie and narrowly dodged a kiss aimed at her lips. She instead quickly pecked him on the cheek and went up the steps. "Thanks for walking me home. I'll see you Monday. Hope you have a good weekend."

She quickly unlocked the door, waved, and nearly ran inside. She shut the door behind her and put her back against it.

"Oh, God." she mumbled aloud.

* * *

**A.N.- Sorry for taking so long to update. I did not realize how much work it would take to come up with the fresh plot, but here is the new Chapter 9. I hope you enjoy it. Please leave me comments/reviews/flames concerning how you feel about the direction of the story. If any inconsistencies still exist, let me know. I went back and checked the other chapters in the hope of getting them all to be consistent, but I am sure I missed something. **

**Since the next chapters will be completely new, and not a revision of the original story, it will take me a little longer to get the chapters updated. I truly expect to have this finished by the time summer is over. Anyway, again, thank you to everyone who has reviewed so far, added this story to their alerts, or even flamed. I appreciate it all!**


	10. Feelings

**Chapter Ten- Feelings**

Kelsey groaned as she moved to turn the alarm clock off. It was Monday morning, and she was truly not in the mood to get up and go to school, especially not after the events of Saturday night.

"Kelsey!"

"Argh." she grumbled as she threw the covers off and clumsily got out of her very comfortable bed.

As soon as her feet touched the floor, she felt a sinking sensation in the pit of her stomach. She couldn't believe that she had nearly forgotten what this week was leading up to. Of course, she would never be able to entirely forget what October 27th was. The teenager sighed heavily as she went downstairs to check on her father.

"What would you like for breakfast, dad?" she asked as she walked through the living room and into the kitchen.

"Your aunt has gone out to that café in the city center to get me breakfast before she flies back to Chicago, so don't worry about me." Caleb said as he gingerly got up from the sofa. "I'm worried about you, though, sweetie. I know this week has never really been easy for you."

"Dad, I'm…No, I don't know." Kelsey frowned as she placed the carton of orange juice back into the refrigerator. "I mean, is it still crazy that I miss mom so much? I was so little when it all happened…"

Caleb wrapped his arms around his daughter. "Never. I still miss her, too. I think it would be crazy to not miss her, baby girl."

Kelsey hugged her dad back. "I'm so glad you're home. I was so scared that you wouldn't be back."

As she started to cry, her father hugged her tighter. "I know, baby."

After twenty minutes of being comforted and getting the majority of her bad feelings out into the open, Kelsey went back upstairs to get ready for school.

* * *

The trio of girls sat in their usual spot, under the tree. While a few weeks ago it sported deep emerald leaves, it now had leaves of crimson and amber. Instead of sitting in the boisterous cafeteria for lunch, they had grabbed the paper-bag lunch that was prepared daily for the students who decided to dine elsewhere. It was a much needed break from the guys, and the peaceful atmosphere was helping Kelsey feel slightly better.

"This history assignment is going to drive me insane." Kelsey scowled before taking a bite of the turkey sandwich. "I tried to talk with that _thing_ before the bell rang for first period, and she told me she didn't have time to talk to nobodies."

"Just tell Mr. Clark you can't get her to work with you." Connie suggested as she bit into an apple. "He's normally pretty fair to students if they work hard."

Julie nodded in agreement as she finished her sandwich. "And, we all know you work harder than most. Even with a broken arm."

"I know, but I would really like to be able to not have to do all of the work. I mean, I am nearly finished with the whole thing anyway, but it would be nice for her input."

"Don't bother wasting the time on getting her to work with you." Connie advised. "Kylie is used to getting her way and she just uses her partners in class. Last year, she used Kenny to get all of their chemistry lab assignments done."

"She's terrible." Julie agreed as she stretched out on the blanket they were all sitting on. "And, if you're already nearly finished, then tell Mr. Clark what is going on so you get the sole credit for it. Plus, you'll get the presentation out of the way before anyone else."

"True." she sighed.

The girls continued talking about less serious topics, such as the latest school gossip for a few minutes, before being interrupted by the arrival of Charlie, Russ, and Kenny.

"You will not believe what we just found out." Kenny blurted as they sat on the grass next to the girls.

"Probably not, but go ahead." Julie said as she sat back up.

"Portman and Fulton didn't go out with just anyone last night." Charlie continued.

"Oh, tell us! Who was it?" Connie was now sitting on her knees, eagerly awaiting the newest bit of fodder for the gossip channels at the school.

"Tessa McKinley and Bridgette Olsteen."

"What?" Connie and Julie asked together.

Both looked completely flabbergasted, while Kelsey just looked completely confused.

"I'm sorry," she started, trying to contain the jealously creeping up in her, "who are these chicks? I've never heard of them."

"Tessa McKinley is only the richest person at this school."

"No, her dad is the richest donor to the school." Julie corrected Connie.

"Right, whatever, she is the daughter of a super rich timber magnate. Her family has been loaded since the 1700's or something."

"Plus, she is probably the prettiest girl in school. Like perfect body, tan, blonde hair, blue eyes-"

"Well, next to Kelsey." Kenny interrupted with a blush.

"Thanks." she smiled. "And, what about this other girl?"

"Bridgette is the only child of two mega rich film makers."

"Typical California girl." Julie said under her breath.

"I would kill to have that tan! And, those clothes. And, everything else she has for that matter." Connie admonished.

"Whatever." the other retorted. "But, what are they doing with the dastardly duo?"

"Probably the typical get back at daddy plan." Kenny theorized. "Most girls from a wealthy background date bad boys so they can make their parents upset. After all, they are at prep school to find equally wealthy husbands."

"Thank you, Dr. Phil." Russ teased.

"Well, he has a point. I've been to a lot of private schools, and it's typically what happens." Kelsey frowned.

Thankfully, before she had much time to dwell on the subject, the bell rang, signaling an end of the lunch period.

* * *

Kelsey sat on the bench, completely bored. Sure, she was in charge of the clipboard containing plays, but playing hockey was way more fun than coaching it. However, since she was required to attend practices despite her injury, at least she had something to do while the rest of the team prepared for the next pre-season match.

"All right, practice is over." Coach Orion finally announced at six. "See you tomorrow."

Three hours of sitting on the bench had left Kelsey with a slight ache in her lower back. Thankfully, practices of this length would be a rarity, except for Saturdays without games. And, hopefully by the time the season finally started, she would no longer be benched.

The flaxen haired beauty stretched quickly before following the gruff hockey coach to his neatly arranged office. She placed the clipboard she had been using on the desk, then turned to leave.

"Paris, what's the prognosis?" Orion asked with concern, causing her turn back around.

"I saw the radiologist on Friday, and he said at least two more weeks in the cast. Then probably a month before I can start playing again. He said I could probably practice, but nothing too rough." she added, hoping he would not kick her off the team and replace her with a more able bodied student.

Kelsey would not blame him if he did kick her off the team, though. Even though the initial prognosis had been a hairline fracture, her doctor had to inform her that there had been a mistake in the radiologist's office the day her cast had been put on. Her x-ray had somehow managed to get mixed up with someone else's and the bone in Kelsey's arm had in fact been completely fractured. This merited the cast being on for at least a full twelve weeks, taking in consideration that Kelsey had broken the same arm while climbing a tree in Norway when she was eight.

"Well, be ready to start practice in three weeks, then. Until then, you can be my assistant. When the cast comes off, you are to start attending games."

"Yes sir."

"That means, when we play the last scrimmage in three weeks, you will need to be wearing your jersey and on the bench helping with plays."

"Okay, coach." Kelsey stood in the doorway. "Also, thank you for letting me stay on the team. I haven't been much help, but I promise I'll make up for it once I get back on the ice."

Orion made a motion with his hand, signaling no problem.

Kelsey smiled as she walked out of the office and out of the ice arena. After carefully peeking around the quiet hallway to make sure she wouldn't run into anyone she was trying to avoid, she made a dash outside. No sooner as she had gotten out into the open air, than she had encountered a dallying Charlie, whom she knew normally raced from practice to be with Linda. He had been pacing at least twenty feet from the front doors of the school and was now making his way towards the fair seventeen year old.

'Not now.' she inwardly groaned as she realized she had been spotted. 'I really don't need this, especially this week.'

She plastered a fake smile on her face as Charlie stopped in front of her.

"Kelsey, about the other night, I just want to say that I really-"

"Hey, Kelsey."

Kelsey turned to her left and saw Fulton making his way over to her.

"Hi." she managed calmly, trying to keep from rejoicing over the interruption.

"Could I talk to you for a sec?"

"Well," she began, "Charlie was the middle of telling me something, but-"

"Oh, it's okay. I have to get over to the dorms to help Russ with that history assignment. See you guys tomorrow." he waved as he walked off.

Fulton looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "What's all that about?"

"No clue." she lied. "Anyway, what did you want to talk about?"

"Well, I need your opinion about something. You aren't like Connie or Julie, and I need a chick's help with this." he admitted with a slight blush.

"I'm flattered." Kelsey stated. "Could we start walking towards our places? I want to get home before it gets too dark."

"Oh, yeah, sure."

After walking for a few blocks, and with the school out of view, Kelsey turned to her companion.

"So, what did you want my help with?"

"Well, do you think it is possible for a girl like Bridgette Olsteen to really like me?"

Kelsey pondered his question for a moment, weighing her response. Should she tell him the truth or lie to boost his confidence?

"Just tell me the truth." he interrupted her musings as they crossed a street. "I can take it."

Kelsey looked to her right side and into his eyes. "Honestly, Fulton, I don't really know. Most girls that are Ms. Popular Princess only date the known bad boys for two reasons: to get back at their parents or because they do actually like them since they are so different. And, I don't really know Bridgette, so I can't say for sure."

"Thanks." he sighed. "I don't think she likes me, though. She really wasn't all that interested in me the other night. I think she only agreed to go out with me because Tessa really wanted to go out with Portman."

Kelsey ignored the stab of jealousy. "Well, I think you deserve better than her, Fulton. I think you're a great guy underneath the tough exterior. Some girls are just destined to miss the great people in front of them because they are too busy looking for only one certain quality."

Fulton gave a small smile. "Yeah, that sounds about right. I didn't really care much for her, anyway. And, I can't understand what Portman sees in that Tessa chick."

They were now standing out in front of her apartment door. "Who knows."

Even though she knew Fulton would never admit it, Kelsey could tell that he was hurt that Bridgette didn't return his feelings. Since moving to Minnesota and meeting the shy teenager two months ago, Kelsey felt quite endeared to him. She knew he dressed the way he did and acted tough due to growing up poor and pretty much on his own, since his mother worked a very late shift at a local factory in order to make ends meet. Knowing that Fulton was obviously more than what his initial appearance offered, it made Kelsey rather upset that Bridgette would turn down Fulton based on his current economic situation.

Fulton removed her bag from his shoulder and handed it to her. "I sure don't. I mean, he talked about you constantly for over a month. I was seriously starting to get tired of hearing about you."

Kelsey laughed, trying to cover up the fact that she actually wanted to cry. "Well, we knew each other when we were kids. I'm old news, anyway."

She unlocked the front door. "Would you like to stay for dinner?"

Fulton put his hands in his front pockets. "No, thanks. I need to get home before mom heads off to work."

"See you tomorrow." she waved as he started down the sidewalk and she opened the door.

"Oh, and Kelsey," he partially turned to look back at her, "if Portman was smart, he wouldn't think you were old news."

"Thanks." she mumbled as he waved before continuing to walk to his apartment.


	11. Move Along

**Chapter Eleven-Move Along**

The morning of the 27th dawned with clear skies and a gloriously bright sun. The colors on the trees in the city of Minneapolis were enchanting shades of scarlet, ocher, and gold. The breeze was gentle and slightly cool, belying the fast approach of winter in the Midwestern state. It was not balmy by any means; the thermometer outside of the warm apartment read 45 degrees Fahrenheit, but that didn't faze the young woman of Scandinavian descent as she pulled the hood of her sweatshirt over her head and began to briskly walk down the block.

Kelsey still had an hour before school was to start, but she needed to get out of her apartment in order to keep from completely breaking down. Though her father was more than enough comfort on this horrid day, the arrival of her stepmother the night before was a very unpleasant surprise. With Marion around, Kelsey's grief was all the more palpable. It should be her mother sitting in the living room of the cozy apartment; not the wicked stepmother.

'Maybe I should have chosen to stay in the dorms.' she regretfully thought as she kept walking towards the school.

Kelsey loved living with her father; there was no doubt about that. It was her stepmother that she could not stand, even on the best of days. Since this day definitely did not qualify as a best day, being in the presence of a woman who could not stand the sight of Kelsey was more than enough to make the all ready horrible day more atrocious.

About two blocks away from the school, Kelsey found the newly opened Starbucks. She normally wasn't one for coffee, but on this morning, the thought of a nice hot chocolate and cinnamon roll sounded delightful. The coffee shop smelled heavenly, making Kelsey actually feel hungry for the first time in days. After obtaining her order, she found a small table in the far back.

Once her meal was finished, she headed back out into the chilly autumn air and continued her brisk pace towards the school. She had only fifteen minutes to get into the building before the tardy bell, which would be an easy feat at the pace she was walking. Within ten minutes, she was at her locker trying to compose herself.

"Hey, babe."

Kelsey nearly groaned as she heard the voice of the person she most certainly did not want to deal with. She couldn't exactly see him since her open locker door was in between them, but she imagined he was dressed in his usual bad boy attire and had a smirk on his face. After deciding between speaking to Dean Portman and slamming the open locker door in his face, she opted for the former.

"Hi." she all but huffed.

She grabbed her bag and closed the locker, doing her best to not change her mind and batter the unsuspecting young man. She was surprised to see the absence of a smirk and could feel her anger begin to fade.

"Are you okay?" he asked, concern in his deep brown eyes.

Kelsey felt her face soften as she digested his words. "No, not really."

She felt like kicking herself for allowing her anger with him to abate so quickly. They hadn't spoken in nearly a month, yet there he was looking more serious than she had ever seen him. She was about to flee the scene and go to her next class when she was caught off guard by his arms wrapping around her. Even though the strong arms were comforting, Kelsey really was not in the mood to have her all ready tangled emotions further messed with.

"Umm, Dean." she said as she briefly returned the hug.

He let go and took a step back a look of confusion on his face. "Just let me know if you need someone to talk to."

Kelsey raised an eyebrow as he practically jogged off.

'What is with these guys?' she thought as she walked to her first class of the morning.

* * *

"Mr. Clark? Could I please ask you something?" the blonde beauty inquired as she walked into the empty history classroom.

The class would still be empty for at least another five minutes, giving her enough time to raise her project concerns with the mostly agreeable teacher.

"Of course, Ms. Paris, ask away." the teacher replied as he finished his soda and tossed the can effortlessly into the wastebasket.

"I'm having a really hard time getting Kylie to help me with our project. I have tried accommodating her _busy_ schedule, but she keeps blowing me off. Would it be possible to change partners or just work on my own? I have everything finished, minus the speech portion…"

She trailed off, losing confidence. Even though she knew that she was one of the best students in her grade, she also knew most teachers at Eden Hall Academy adored the charming Kylie Perry.

Mr. Clark folded his hands together on the desk top. "Well, that is the most interesting story. See, today, Ms. Perry spoke to me before the first bell. She seemed very adamant that she was doing all of the work and was demanding a new partner. She even gave me a copy of her work."

Kelsey could feel her jaw drop as the teacher pulled a paper out of the top drawer of his desk. Why on earth had she given Kylie a copy of the rough draft, when she hadn't contributed anything to the project? If Mr. Clark really believed the other girl, then how would Kelsey be able to turn in her project?

"But, Ms. Paris, I have seen you stay late after school numerous times, when you don't have hockey practice. I also know for a fact that this work is yours. I could tell that from the moment I began reading it during my free period." he smiled as Kelsey recovered from the thought of failing. "You may work alone on this project. As you know, the speeches will begin on Monday. Since you are working alone, I would prefer for you to give your presentation first."

As much as Kelsey hated giving a speech in front of her peers, being able to give hers before the majority could give theirs would definitely make up for it.

"Yes, I will have everything ready, Mr. Clark. Thank you."

As soon as their conversation finished, the bell rang signaling the end of lunch. Kelsey walked to her seat and sat down as the other students came bustling in.

* * *

"So, why exactly are we at the mall?"Julie groaned as the trio of girls exited the bus.

Kelsey was also very keen to know the answer. Even though she was not very much in the mood to go to the mall, she also wasn't very much in the mood to go home to her stepmother either.

"We are getting Halloween costumes!" Connie said excitedly as they entered the large building.

Julie and Kelsey groaned together, causing Connie to roll her eyes.

"We aren't little kids. I'm not going trick-or-treating."Julie asserted as they followed the slightly shorter girl to the Halloween store.

"We aren't going trick-or-treating."Connie rebuked. "We are going to Tessa McKinley's party."

"No, I will not be going to that party."Julie glared as she crossed her arms. "It's just an excuse for people to get drunk and do stupid stuff."

"You don't have to do any of that. I just want to go because it is a costume party. Besides, we have been going to this school for over two years now, and we have never been invited to any of her parties."

Kelsey stopped browsing the costume make-up briefly to look at the arguing pair. "Why did she invite you this time, then?"

She was pretty certain that she all ready knew the answer, but wanted a confirmation before she joined Julie in protesting.

"I don't know. She invited the whole team." Connie shrugged as she started walking towards to costume section.

"Portman." Julie stated matter-of-factly. "She's been going on about this since lunch. Averman has even been invited."

"Who knows. Do we really want to go to this thing? I like costume parties, but I don't really know this Tessa chick."

'Nor do I want to.' she added silently.

"I don't know. Most of the people will be inebriated. But, it could be fun to get out of the dorms for the evening."

"I thought you have a curfew?" Kelsey asked as they joined Connie.

"Oh, Dean Buckley actually allows curfew to be ignored the weekend of Halloween."

Julie rolled her eyes. "What she means is, most of the parents pay Buckley off so their babies don't get in trouble for sneaking out all weekend."

"Oh." Kelsey muttered as she looked at the ridiculously trashy costumes. "Does anything actually cover stuff anymore?"

Connie shrugged as she took the butterfly costume Kelsey had been looking at. "I think it's actually pretty cute."

Julie just shook her head, allowing her dirty blond hair to fall into her face.

"So, what day is the party on?" Kelsey asked, hoping to distract the brunette from rounding on their other friend again.

"Saturday. It starts at eight." Connie answered. "I think I'm going to try this on."

This would explain the sudden interest in going to the mall and finding costumes. The party was in just two days, which meant they had to find their costumes by the end of the shopping trip.

After she was out of earshot, Kelsey turned to Julie. "So, we are going to an alcohol fueled party in slutty costumes. This is totally not a recipe for disaster."

"Oh, definitely." Julie agreed sarcastically.

"Let's just hope she gets bored early so we can go to some other place."

Julie sighed. "We can only hope. I think the club for sixteen to eighteen year-olds is having a costume party. So, maybe we can go to it before the club closes."

"Sounds like a plan to me."


	12. Of BMWs and a Teenage Girl

**Chapter Twelve- Of BMWs and a Teenage Girl**

Kelsey stared at her father in disbelief. She obviously had misheard him. Clearly, he had not just told her what she thought he had told her.

"Kels?" her father asked from his seat on the sofa. "Did you hear me?"

Kelsey blinked. "Are you serious?"

"Of course, I'm serious." Caleb held back a laugh.

"But, isn't it more important for you to have one?"

Caleb chuckled. "I am not going back to work until after Thanksgiving. I'm still instructed to stay in bed as much as possible. Besides, I am getting a hefty settlement from this bozo. And, it isn't really important, since I have enough money to buy whatever we want, so long as it's reasonable."

Kelsey was convinced that her father had lost his mind. "You do realize I'm still just 17, right? I haven't even gotten my adult license."

"Yes, but you do have a license. And, you've been driving since you were 15, anyway. I was going to wait until you're 18th birthday, but I think it would be better now. It's getting close to winter. Plus, you are getting a job."

"After school is out for Christmas break, dad."

"Kelsey, stop fighting me on this. You need a little responsibility, and having a car is a huge responsibility at your age. I would feel much better knowing that you aren't walking on your own from school at night. Or on a bus with a bunch of weird men."

"My arm is still broken." she added on to her list of reasons for why having a car was a ridiculous idea.

"It will be out of the cast soon." Caleb shook his head. "I never dreamed I would have to fight with you about this. I thought I would fight with you over you demanding a car, but not over me buying you one."

"I don't want people to know how much money we have." Kelsey admitted as she sat up in the armchair that she had been lounging on. "I hated that most of my _friends_ in New York only liked me because you have money."

"Kels, odds are that your friends like you regardless. Besides, they can ride in your new car. So long as it's only Julie and Connie, of course. And, maybe Gina Portman's kid, but that is it."

"You don't have to worry about any guys being in the car." she said as the doorbell rang.

She loftily stood up from the chair and opened the door. She was quickly enveloped into a hug as the cold air whipped across her bare arms and face.

"Are you guys ready to head to the car lot?" Rosa asked as she let go of her niece, looking at the pajama clad teenager. "Apparently not."

"I didn't even know you were coming." Kelsey said as she started up the stairs. "Dad just informed me of this ludicrous idea."

Rosa suppressed a smile as the younger lady went upstairs to change back into the school clothes she had just changed out of an hour before.

"She is actually arguing with you about this? I would have exploded from happiness if mom and dad got me a car at her age."

* * *

As Kelsey snuggled into her jacket, she looked around the parking lot, fully convinced now that her father's brains had been addled in the car accident. They were in Bloomington, at a car dealership that exclusively sold BMWs. Kelsey had come to terms with getting a new car on the ride to Bloomington, in the airport rental SUV that Rosa was driving, but she had never imagined her father was going to spend this kind of money on a first car for his teenage daughter.

"Well, you have the pick of the lot." Caleb said as he motioned with his hand.

Kelsey couldn't hold it back any longer. "You have lost your mind, haven't you, dad?"

Caleb guffawed loudly, with Rosa chuckling. The car salesman even looked entertained with the question.

"Honey, I have not lost my mind. You have done so many good things to merit this decision I have made. I trust you completely, and know that you will never goof off in anyway while driving. Just accept this present, sweetheart."

Kelsey felt rather embarrassed for questioning her dad. She knew he meant well, but she just didn't want the headache that would come along with her driving a brand new car to school.

"Okay, but nothing too flashy." she consented as they toured the car lot.

* * *

Three hours, $50,000, and a mountain of paperwork later, Kelsey was staring in disbelief at the 2006 BMW 325xi that was parked in the garage. Though Kelsey had wanted the base model without any special trimmings, her giddy father insisted on getting the more expensive model that included heated leather seats, automatic transmission, automatic sunroof, and many other fancy trappings. Kelsey was initially skeptical of how a fully decked out car in a mystic blue metallic paint was already at the dealership, but since she really didn't know how these things worked, she just assumed they kept one completely upgraded car on the lot. As she took one final look at her beautiful new car, she couldn't help but do a happy dance. It would easily be the best car sitting in the student parking lot at Eden Hall Academy, and Kelsey couldn't wait to be able to drive herself to school.

Since neither she nor her father was in much of a condition to drive safely, they had to have someone from the car lot drive the shiny blue car to the Paris' apartment. It was so surreal to her that she now owned a car. Sure, she wouldn't be able to drive it until the cast came off, but it was still grandly parked in the two-car garage in the back of the apartment. As she left the garage and trekked across the small backyard, she waved at the children playing in the yard on the other side of the chain link fence. She quickly went into the back door and into the warm kitchen, breathing in the smell of cinnamon.

"What's for dinner?" she asked cheerfully as she washed her good hand and turned to her aunt.

"Roast." Rosa answered as she placed a pan into the oven. "I'm baking pumpkin rolls for dessert."

Kelsey grabbed the other pan from the counter and placed it in the oven beside of the first. "When did you manage to make all of this?"

Rosa gave a small laugh. "You've been out in that garage for at least half an hour, honey. Plus, I was over here earlier while you were in school, so I fixed the roast and vegetables and slow cooked them. It only finished twenty minutes ago."

"Well, then why did you just show up at four o'clock?"

"I had a meeting to attend. That's most of the reason I'm here; my company has recently opened a small store in downtown, and I am here for the next week to train the employees. It is very hard to open up an organic whole foods store with untrained employees. If they don't even know why it is better to consume these foods than others, then the store won't make any money."

"Oh, I forgot that the store is opening next Friday." Kelsey said as she put the plates and silverware onto the table. "Is Marion going to be home for dinner? Or do you know?"

Rosa looked rather nervous as she wiped her hands onto the flowered print apron. "Your dad really doesn't want me to say anything, but Marion left earlier in a fury. I don't think she'll be home any time soon."

Kelsey finished setting the table then turned back towards her aunt. "What was she mad about?"

She could really care less about Marion's feelings being hurt; she was more interested in knowing what the next battle was going to be over when she crossed her stepmother's path.

"She came in from her shopping trip about the time that your dad and I were discussing whether to get you a BMW or an Audi. She was really mad and started screaming about your dad spoiling you and how he never bought her stuff."

Kelsey began helping her aunt place the various side dishes onto the table. "I don't see why she is mad. She has a lot of money since she was a model."

Rosa sighed as she brought the roast over to the table and carefully placed it in the center. "I honestly just think she is mad that your dad hasn't given her a card to his bank account. She is under the impression that you buy frivolous things with his money, and that she deserves it more than you do."

"I don't ever use his card." Kelsey said as she rolled her eyes. "The last time I used it was in New York. I use my allowance money to buy stuff."

"Which is what your dad told her, but she has convinced herself that she knows it all. Besides, _you_ are entitled to some of the money in his account because it belonged to your mom. And, even if it didn't, you are his child and you should come first." Rosa shook her head. "She ended up storming out the door and slamming it behind her. I really wish your dad would just divorce her. She isn't a very good mother figure to you, or a good wife for that matter."

"Yeah, but he loves her." Kelsey replied.

"I don't-"

The kitchen door opened, and Rosa sat down at the table, as Caleb entered the room.

"Man, I am starved." he remarked as he sat down.

Rosa and Kelsey exchanged a knowing glance before helping themselves to the delicious food.

* * *

**A.N. -**** Hello! I'm sorry I haven't updated in so long. I hope this chapter is as good as the previous ones. I would really appreciate some reviews for this new direction towards the story. The first time I wrote it out, I implied that Kelsey came from a wealthy background, and I have dropped several hints in previous chapters that over the years her father has become a world-famous photographer, implying that he has a lot of money in the bank. But, I want to make sure that I haven't lost anyone with the purchase of Kelsey's car. She isn't going to change personality-wise, nor will she drop her teammates for the elite of the school, so I don't think the recent admission of wealth will distort the story. But, I would really like to know what you, the reader, think. Anyway, thank you for taking the time out to read this fanfiction!**


	13. Tricks and Treats

**A.N. - **I should have addressed this in other chapters (and I possibly did, but I can't recall), but I am trying to come up with a plausible timeline of events. The school year (and start of Chapter 1) begins on August 29 (Monday). For the story, even though I did not want to initially conform to a year, I will follow the calendar year of 2005. Not everything that occurs in the story (movies, music, and clothing) will be from 2005. I chose that year randomly and I will try to keep the movies and music at least as close to the things from 2005 as possible. Since this story isn't exactly canon and takes place in a sort of alternate universe, I don't think the year and events of said year really matter, but I am really obsessive about stories having a timeline that can be followed. If that is confusing, just let me know, and I will try to figure out a way to make it sound better.

Also, **this chapter** (and the following), feature some **bad language**, mentions of **underage drinking**, and **sex** so I will cautiously leave the rating as "T" (unless many readers feel I should bump it up to "M"). I think the rating system should be updated because M is too strong for this fic, but I'm afraid T may be to light. I digress. If any of this is not your cup of tea, I am sorry. Please feel free to stop reading this fic. None of the things mentioned are in too much detail or in huge quantities, but I understand if it turns you off to reading this.

Regardless, please enjoy the chapter!

**Chapter Thirteen- Tricks and Treats**

Kelsey stared outside of her bedroom window, watching the small groups of children go door to door as twilight started to take over the chilly October evening. Earlier that morning, she had gone to the doctor for another check-up and was surprised to learn that her cast would finally be coming off. She was required to wear a black brace during sleep and when involving her arm in strenuous physical activities for the next three weeks, but it was a major upgrade from the bulky plaster that had been keeping her healing arm safe for the last nine weeks. As she watched the excited children darting everywhere on the street below, she marveled at how light her arm felt now that the cast was gone. Since the Halloween party would not involve carrying books or any major physical activity, Kelsey had decided to only wear it while driving her new car to the party.

"I am so glad that you are driving us to the party instead of us having to ride the bus." Connie said as she carefully curled Julie's hair.

Since they would be getting a ride to the party, they had decided to bring their costumes and make-up over to Kelsey's apartment to get ready. Luckily, as soon as the pair arrived, Caleb and Rosa left to go to dinner. It was also very lucky in Kelsey's opinion because she knew her dad would freak out when he saw her costume. It was not a very revealing costume, but Kelsey knew her father would disapprove greatly. The woodland fairy costume had necessitated the addition of a pair of nude spandex shorts to make Kelsey feel appropriately covered. And though the corset top of the short dress covered her adequately and fit well, she still was not a fan of going without a bra. She was really starting to regret letting Connie talk her into getting the costume. Even though the light green and blue went well with her skin tone, hair, and eyes, she did not like that she felt pretty much naked in it.

"You look great, so stop worrying." Connie admonished as she dusted glitter all over Julie's pinned up curly hair.

All three were wearing some variation of a fairy costume, with Julie having the most conservative. No matter how hard Connie had tried to convince the curvaceous blonde to buy a more revealing fairy costume, it was not going to make Julie budge. She instead selected a long purple goddess style dress and added black fairy wings and a black belt to the ensemble. And while Kelsey felt much unclothed in her own costume, Connie was wearing a far more revealing pink fairy costume, complete with stockings and very high heels.

As soon as Julie was finished and up from the vanity seat, Kelsey was rushed into it by the eager Connie. After twenty minutes of curling, hair spray, pins, and glitter, Connie finally clipped in the blue flower piece close to Kelsey's right ear. Her flaxen locks were curled and pulled into a messy bun, showing off even more of her pale skin.

Before she could protest, Connie began applying the outlandish make-up, which consisted of more glitter, bold eyeliner, false eyelashes, and pink lipstained lips. Though Kelsey thought she looked really pretty, she also felt like she looked a little trashy.

"Is it ok if I get something to drink?" Julie asked as Connie replaced Kelsey in the vanity chair.

"Sure, I'll take you to the kitchen." Kelsey grabbed her green sparkly angel wings and bag and followed her pal downstairs.

She dropped her belongings onto the sofa as they walked into the kitchen.

"She is _insane_." Julie breathed as she opened the soda. "Why did we agree to this?"

"Because we lost our minds due to the jerks we hang around?" Kelsey mumbled as she took a sip of her own soda.

Julie was the sole person who knew about the Charlie and Portman fiascos. Likewise, Kelsey was the only person who knew that Scooter had broken up with Julie to date college girls. Everyone else on the team thought the two goalies were still together.

"Boys." Julie sighed venomously.

Kelsey nodded in agreement. They continued to talk about their boy troubles for another half hour, until Connie came into the kitchen. Her normally long, straight hair was loosely curled and flowing down her back. Of the three, she looked the most confident in her costume, which made her all the more enchanting, in Kelsey's opinion.

"My dad and aunt will be back any time, now, so we should get going." Kelsey said as she looked at the kitchen clock.

The party wasn't going to start until 8:30, but Kelsey would rather be there slightly early than to get caught by her father. After grabbing their bags (each girl had a change of clothes to put on before re-entering the Paris abode after the party), the trio headed out to the garage to begin their long journey of the night.

* * *

Even though they had arrived to the party early, the McKinley mansion was already crowded with a mixture of students from the local high schools, Eden Hall, and the college. When they had first arrived at the party, the trio of female Ducks were greeted by their various teammates, all receiving compliments for their costumes and glamorous appearances. Kelsey had a lot of fun at first, dancing with Dwayne, Kenny, and even Goldberg in between breaks spent talking and eating the candy and Halloween treats prepared by the personal chef that Tessa's parents employed. The party was full of happy people who were nice to meet and spend a few brief minutes talking to. Kelsey was even beginning to feel slightly more confident in her costume after having so many of her female peers comment on how cute she looked.

However, the party began to take a nosedive by 9:30, when Tessa's older brother and his friends showed up with enough alcohol to supply a small bar. By ten o'clock, Kelsey could bet with certainty that at least 80% of the attendees were inebriated, Connie included. Unlike her more conservative friends, Connie was apparently a party girl.

"I really thought she was exaggerating about her summer exploits." Julie said as she joined Kelsey in the library.

Aside from the two, no one else was in the sanctuary.

"I honestly don't see the point in it. I made the mistake of getting drunk last summer, and I will never repeat that experience." Kelsey said as she sighed. "I can't believe I thought this party might actually be worth it."

"It isn't."

"I know that, now. I've had so many creeps hit on me." Kelsey said as she removed the fake fairy wings, tossing them onto a leather loveseat. "I even had to dodge Charlie, again."

Julie cringed. "Has he not gotten the hint?"

"I try to tell him I'm not interested. But, he keeps insisting that I should give him a chance." Kelsey replied as she slumped onto the comfortable seat.

The immaculate library was as big as the top floor of the apartment she was living in. All of the walls were lined with expensive looking bookshelves and a huge, and antique looking, globe was positioned in the middle of the richly decorated room. It was the perfect hide out from the trashed party-goers, since no one would be interested in entering through a door that had "Library" engraved into the plaque on the door.

"He gets arrogant sometimes." Julie admitted, bringing Kelsey from her musings. "I think being team captain goes to his head, a lot."

"Well, he is going to really ruin the team dynamic when I have to beat some sense into him. I hate being violent, but I really don't think he'll ever get the hint."

Julie smirked. "I knew there was a reason for why we get along so well."

Both laughed as the library door opened again.

"Oh, hey, Fulton, what's going on?" Julie asked as the sullen teenager entered the room.

He insisted he was dressed as a biker when they first ran into him at the party, but both girls thought he looked like he usually did.

"Why don't chicks like me?" he abruptly questioned as he sat on the top of desk that was close by.

"What do you mean?" Julie asked bewilderedly.

She was not aware that Fulton was having female problems, considering all of the female attention the Bash Brothers received at school.

"Is it that Bridgette chick?" Kelsey asked with a hint of anger in her normally calm voice.

"No. It's just any girl. I've tried to talk to at least five, and every single one just laughs at me and walks off."

Kelsey got up from her comfortable chair and hugged the saddened teen. "I think you're just going after the wrong girls, Fulton."

"Yeah, maybe you're right." he said as they broke the brief hug. "Am I really that bad of a person, though?"

"No!" Julie exclaimed passionately as she stood up from her chair. "Fulton, you're such a cool dude. You deserve someone other than one of those prissy rich chicks. You are way too good for them."

Kelsey nodded in agreement. "We're still in high school, so don't even worry about these girls."

"Thanks, ladies." Fulton said as he got up. "I'm going to go back to the party. Wanna join?"

"Sure." the girls replied in unison as the three walked towards the closed library door.

The three teenagers were walking down the empty hallway when they were met by a rather harassed looking Portman. Kelsey would have laughed at his out of character doctor costume, but she could feel that this wasn't the appropriate time.

"Dude, we need to talk." he aimed at Fulton.

"Oh, no," Fulton raised his hands, "I'm not in this one. You need to find someone else."

Julie quickly followed behind Fulton, leaving Kelsey alone with the tall, dark, and handsome teenager.

"I guess I should be going, too…" Kelsey trailed off as she saw the look in his eyes.

"No, I need someone to talk to." he insisted as he pulled her back to the library.

"Dean," Kelsey began as he closed the door behind him, "I am really the last person that you want to talk to about your relationship issues. Especially with everything that happened last month."

Kelsey was torn between crying and being angry. On one hand, she wanted to cry over the fact that he pretty much was toying with her emotions like she was another disposable girl. On the other, she wanted to pick up the biggest book in the library and bash his head in for completely ignoring her until he got with Tessa.

"Can we just forget about all of that for a second? Tessa wants to go all-"

"No, I am not listening to this," she emphasized by furiously covering her ears with her hands. "I am not giving you advice. Do what you want, Dean Portman. I could really care less!"

With that, she stormed out of the room, before she committed herself to committing assault with a deadly dictionary. She ran down the stairs and immediately found Julie, who had been happily dancing with Fulton and Kenny.

"We are leaving. Now!" she nearly hissed as the other blonde strained to hear her.

"What's going on?" Julie asked with concern.

"I want to go home." Kelsey said, trying very hard to not sound like a petulant child.

"Okay, let's find Connie."

Before the two could begin their search, Fulton stopped them.

"I really wouldn't do that if I were you. She disappeared with Guy, like, at least twenty minutes before I went to find you guys."

"Gross." Julie said as she rolled her eyes.

"Whatever. She can find her own way back to the dorm. I'm not in the mood to deal with any of this."

Kelsey stormed out into the main hall. After grabbing her long winter peacoat and buttoning it, she stalked out of the beautiful mansion and out to the street. Her car was parked two blocks away, since there were so many people at the party.

"Kels, wait up!" Julie yelled as she came jogging up behind the furious girl. "What's going on?"

"Guys are such dumbasses." she spat as she continued to walk quickly to her car. "Portman wanted my opinion on whether or not he should sleep with Tessa. He's such a jerk. Why would he even bother asking me that, when he knows that I like him?"

Julie stared blankly as Kelsey unlocked the car doors. "I really have no idea."

"I reiterate: guys are such dumbasses." she slammed the car door before placing the key into the ignition.

After they had both buckled their seatbelts, she started the car and carefully drove home. No matter how angry she was, she wasn't going to risk either Julie or her lives. With the streets busy due to the party revelers, it took an excruciating hour to get back to her home, when it had taken just twenty minutes earlier. After getting out of the car, the girls turned their backs towards each other as Kelsey changed into a more conservative dress. It wasn't exactly a costume, but with her fairy wings, it would look nice enough. Since Julie's costume wasn't that revealing to begin with, she decided to stay in it until getting into the warm apartment.

"Could you get those blasted wings from the car?" Kelsey asked as she stuffed the flimsy costume pieces into her bag.

"Sure." Julie opened the passenger door, leaning in to look for them. "Um, they aren't in here. You must've left them."

"Forget it, then. He'll never know the difference."

Kelsey really didn't care at this point if her dad scolded her or not. Her night was already ruined, so it wasn't like he could do anything to make it worse.

"Hello, girls." Caleb greeted from the living room sofa as they came in from the kitchen. "Where's Connie?"

"She decided she wanted to go back to the dorm with some of the other girls we know." Julie effortlessly lied. "I really need a break from that place, though."

She and Kelsey both laughed, trying to keep the rouse going.

"I can't say I don't blame you. I hated living in the dorms when I was in college." Caleb said as he gingerly got up from the couch. "Well, since I see that you are safely back, I'm going to bed, girls. Goodnight."

He kissed Kelsey on the top of her head before going down the short hallway behind the stairs to the guest room.

"That was close." Julie muttered as she shut Kelsey's bedroom door behind her.

"I'm so glad you can lie." Kelsey admitted as she closed the blinds and curtains on her two bedroom windows. "I would have been toast."

"It's what happens when you have two lawyers for your parents." she shrugged casually. "I'm so tired."

"Me, too." Kelsey yawned. "I'll get the air mattress pumped up while you change into your pjs."

"Good deal."

Twenty minutes later, Kelsey lay awake as Julie drifted off into a deep sleep. No matter how hard she tried, she really couldn't get the offending exchange out of her head. After nearly an hour of struggling to go to sleep, she finally drifted off into a restless slumber.


	14. Changing Times

**Chapter Fourteen-Changing Times**

Kelsey quickly skated the twenty laps that Coach Orion had instructed the team to complete as warm up. The vigorous exercise was doing an excellent job of keeping her mind off of things now that school was back in session. It was now the 28th of November, and so many things were happening in Kelsey's life.

After a week of constant arguing, her father and Marion had agreed that the marriage just wasn't working out. After consulting their lawyers, the divorce was on its way to court. Though Marion had been demanding many things prior to the papers being drawn up, both parties agreed to an amicable split that allowed them to keep what belonged to each individual. Kelsey was quite shocked that Marion could be so mature, but she wasn't at all sad to see her go. Her father was much happier without the headache of dealing with his uncaring second wife, and he had a renewed vigor to go back to work.

Along with the improved happiness in the Paris household, also came the addition of the settlement from the accident that had injured Caleb. To keep the news of the senator's son's drunk driving from the media, they had quickly agreed to pay for Caleb's hospital bills, but also gave him a large settlement to keep quiet about the incident. The insurance company reimbursed Caleb for the car, and as soon as he was cleared to return to driving and work, he went out and bought a brand new, black 2006 Audi A8L. Though Caleb had never been one to boast of his wealth, he had changed his mind about how he spent his money. As a self-made millionaire, he had always walked a line between having nice things and living frugally. After his near death experience, though, he had decided that what good was it to have a few million dollars in the bank if you weren't going to spend some of it?

Of course, most of Eden Hall was now buzzing about Kelsey's newly revealed wealth. As she had predicted, many people decided to deem her worthy of their presence once they knew her father was rich. However, her father was right, and none of the Ducks had changed their opinion of her. She knew who her real friends were, and she was more than happy to tell the people who only saw her for her money where exactly they could go.

After the practice was over, Kelsey followed the rest of her team members into the locker room. While the guys waited out in the main locker room, the three girls went to take their showers. Though slightly miffed that they had ditched her, Connie understood the whole situation when they had talked about it the Monday after the party. They were all back on good terms, something that Kelsey was grateful for. With new people cropping up daily, it helped to have her real friends be there for her.

"Where are my clothes?" Julie angrily asked as the other two turned the water from their shower stalls off.

All three had walked into the shower room with their towels, shower accessories, and clean clothing.

Kelsey looked dismally down as she noticed that her jeans, underwear, and sweater were missing as well. The pile of dirty undergarments, shorts, and tank top was also missing. After wrapping the towel around her, she looked around the other stalls as her fellow females came out with their towels wrapped around them.

"They even stole our practice clothes!" Connie nearly shrieked.

"I'm going to kill them." Julie said through gritted teeth.

"At least they left the towels. I'm going out there." Kelsey stated as she walked towards the door.

"…and, this one says 34C." Averman gleefully read, as Kelsey opened the door.

She quickly, but silently, closed the door and walked back to her female friends.

"Well, the clowns are definitely in on it." she informed the fuming girls.

"Pigs."

"They disgust me."

"They must think we'll come out there like this." Julie hissed. "I'm not even giving them the pleasure."

The three silently thought of ways to get their things back and to punish the boys. Before any of them could formulate a solid plan, there was a soft tapping on the exit door of the locker room. Since the door could only be opened from inside of the locker room, it meant they would have to risk being seen in order to see who was outside of the door.

Kelsey volunteered to open it as Connie and Julie followed. The three were very surprised to see three clean looking t-shirts shoved through the space that Kelsey had created in the doorway. This was followed by several pairs of workout shorts, and what looked to be stolen sports bras from the cheerleaders' locker room.

"Do I even want to know?" Kelsey asked as she used her right foot to move the clothes out of the doorway.

"Hey, they're clean." she could hear Fulton say defensively. "We got them from the laundry room."

The laundry room was actually a portion of the laboratory for the home economics courses offered at Eden Hall. The teacher and students used the school uniforms to practice doing laundry, as well as to save the school the fees for dry cleaning hundreds of uniforms. While many of the students were from the upper class of Minneapolis, there were several students who were from the middle class or on scholarship that opted to take the course to teach them household skills. Plus, it was an easy A, so that was an incentive for a lot of her peers to take the class.

"And, what incentive do you have to help us?" Julie questioned as she opened the door fully after they had managed to change into the clothes.

Luckily, the exit door opened out into a deserted hallway; well, mostly deserted since Fulton, Kenny, and Portman were nervously standing outside of it.

"Because I don't want to get my ass kicked when you sock it to those morons." Portman offered casually, as he leaned against the wall.

"To be fair, the three of us were speaking with Coach Orion about a new defensive play." Kenny added as he looked down at his feet.

"Who all is in on this?" Julie demanded.

"The usual, I'm sure." Connie said as she closed the door behind them.

"Averman, Goldberg, Guy, and Luis."

"Figures." Julie mumbled under her breath.

Connie looked really hurt when she heard Guy's name.

"And the others?" Kelsey inquired, crossing her arms.

"No clue. I just know they were for sure in there when we were in the office with coach." Fulton answered hesitantly. "Banks probably ran off to the dorms after practice. He hates showering with the rest of the team."

"I can't imagine why." Julie said as she wrinkled her nose. "You smell so delightful."

"Well, as much as I love standing here in the hallway," Kelsey smiled, "I think we should go back into the locker room and see if those morons have decided to take their showers."

Five minutes later, they were standing in the deserted locker room, noting that the guys had left their clothes out in the locker area.

"Are you guys seriously this stupid?" Julie asked as the girls gathered up all of the clean clothes from the benches.

"Hey, we can change in front of each other. We're dudes." Fulton defended. "It would only be weird if chicks were changing in here."

Kelsey suppressed a laugh as she heard the distinct sound of water starting to run. "Let's give them a taste of their own medicine."

"I'm game." Julie said as she picked up a few empty gym bags. "We can just leave them their towels, and take everything else. I guess the uniforms have already been taken to the laundry?"

"Yeah, it was Charlie and Dwayne's turn to take them to the laundry room." Kenny answered as the girls feverishly made quick work of stealing the clean clothing.

"Good." Kelsey uttered as she tossed the boys' shoes into another bag for good measure.

"Let's go into the shower room and get the other stuff." Connie whispered as she opened the door.

Less than five minutes later, they were all standing outside of the locker room, the stolen items stuffed into three gym bags. After enlisting the help of Fulton and Portman to carry them, the group quickly made their way back to the dormitories, specifically to the dorm room that the Bash Brothers shared. Though Fulton had opted to live off of campus at the beginning of the year, he had decided to move back in when his mother's latest boyfriend had moved into their place. The dorm room was technically his, anyway, due to it being guaranteed in the scholarship, but like all of the students of Eden Hall Academy, he could live at home if it was not more than a twenty minute drive from the school.

"It is too cold for this crap." Julie said as she turned the thermostat on the heater up.

The horribly cold wind did not feel very good, especially when all they had on were thin t-shirts and shorts. Kelsey and Connie were standing close together in front of the warm heater, furiously rubbing their hands together.

"They should be grateful I'm not going to kick their asses." Kelsey said a few minutes later, when she regained feeling in her hands.

She went to one of the twin beds and grabbed her blue gym bag, which contained the clothing that belonged to herself, Julie, and Connie. Since they didn't want to risk staying around in the locker room for too long, they had only put their sneakers on before coming to the dormitory building. She unzipped it and took out her clean clothes, along with the other two girls'.

"The bathroom is just down the hall." Fulton said as he opened the door.

Ten minutes later, the females of the group came back into the sweltering room, fully dressed in their casual clothes. Kelsey placed the neatly folded clothes that they had all been wearing onto one of the beds and went to the window.

"Anyone want to get some food?"

"I have a huge physics test to study for." Kenny said. "If I didn't, I would definitely go."

"Oh, crap, I almost forgot about that!" Julie exclaimed. "Study buddies?"

Kenny nodded, and the two left to go to their dorm rooms to get what they needed for their study session.

"I'm game." Connie said as she pulled her hair back into a messy ponytail. "I have nothing going on."

Kelsey grabbed her gym bag and looked at their male companions. "Want to join us? It's my treat."

"I still need to take a shower." Fulton mumbled.

"That's fine." Kelsey said. "Connie and I will just wait in my car. And, you can come, if you want." She directed at Portman casually.

After notifying the front desk that she was leaving, Kelsey and Connie started across the front lawn of the school to get to her car. The two had been discussing the upcoming Winter Formal, when they noticed some towel-clad teenagers coming out of the main school building. Trying to keep a straight face, the pair continued to her car, coming into brief contact with the boys.

"What happened?" Connie feigned innocence.

"Someone took our clothes!" Guy said angrily.

Kelsey bit her lip to keep from laughing. "Who on earth would do such a thing?"

"I don't know, but I bet it was Russ or somebody." Goldberg accused as the four young men left to get to their dorms.

Kelsey and Connie nearly ran to last few feet to the parking lot, and burst out laughing as they got into the BMW.

"I can't believe they haven't realized it was us."

"They probably think we got the other guys to do it."

Ten minutes later, the clean and decent smelling Bash Brothers joined them.

"Did you tell them we stole their clothes?" Fulton accused as the duo piled into the backseat.

"Why would we do that?" Kelsey questioned as she put the car into reverse and pulled out of the spot.

"Yeah, you helped us, for once." Connie quipped as Kelsey began driving out of the parking lot and towards downtown Minneapolis. "Goldberg said he thought Russ did it."

"Well, they saw us in the lobby and accused us of it."Fulton said as he rolled his eyes.

"I think I cleared things up when I threatened to turn them into pretzels." Portman said offhandedly.

"Must you two always be so violent?" Connie asked as the school building faded in the distance.

"No, but what good would it do if we were nice?" Portman retorted.

"Chill, dude." Fulton said before looking at Connie. "You know they would act worse if we didn't act tough."

"True." Connie remarked as she turned back to the front. "I guess keeping half the team scared of you helps keep other people scared of playing us."

They sat in silence for the rest of the short ride. Traffic was not nearly as bad as it had been during the summer, so they arrived in the heart of downtown within twenty minutes. After locking the car up, Kelsey followed the others into the busy pizza shop. Since it had the best pizza in Minneapolis, it was expected that it would be busy at seven o'clock in the evening.

"So, what should we get?" Kelsey asked as they stared at the menus fifteen minutes later.

She was sitting in the red booth with Connie to her left, Fulton in front of Connie, and Portman in directly in front of her. She was not entirely sure as to why this was the seating arrangement, but she wasn't going to complain. Connie did not know as much as Julie did about the situation, but she had picked up on the palpable tension between the blond and muscular bad boy. After the near screaming match the pair had gotten into the previous week, when Portman had innocently checked Kelsey to keep her from scoring a goal during practice, Connie was certain there was a lot more going on besides Kelsey's original excuse of him being a bully on the ice.

"Whatever you want, babe. You're the one who's payin'." Portman uttered from behind his menu.

Kelsey could nearly feel her blood boiling. She knew that 'babe' was his term for just about every girl on the planet, but she did not appreciate being called that. Especially after the emotional debacle that he had put her in since September, Kelsey did not want to be called anything other than her name.

Instead of kicking him and screaming, Kelsey gritted her teeth. "I guess we could get a deep dish with pepperoni, mushrooms, and-"

"Bacon!" Connie and Fulton both exclaimed together.

After sheepish grins on their parts, and quizzical looks from both Kelsey and Portman, the blond agreed, "And, bacon. Pitcher of Pepsi?"

"Make it two." came the gruff reply from in front of her.

"Be back in a few." she said as she went up to the counter to place the order for their table.

* * *

"Thanks for dinner, Kelsey." Fulton said two hours later as he got out of the warm car and into the frigid November night.

"Yes, thank you so much." Connie agreed happily. "I haven't had this much fun in months."

After shutting their doors, the duo met in front of the car and waved. They quickly walked together towards the dormitories, Connie with her coat wrapped tightly around her.

"Thanks." Portman said as the pair disappeared off in the dark.

"It was fun." Kelsey allowed, wishing he would just hurry and close the door as he got out.

Instead, he came over to her side of the car, motioning for her to get out. With a sigh, she unbuckled her seatbelt and calmly got out of the car. Though they had been polite during the dinner, the tension between them could be picked up by their companions. Connie and Fulton had kept the conversation flowing for most of the evening, telling stories from their childhood, long before the Goodwill Games. Though Kelsey and Portman had talked about their childhoods in Chicago, it was mostly just cordial remembering, not very intimate like the other two.

"Look, Dean." She started as she closed the door behind her.

"Coach is going to can us if we don't start getting along."

Kelsey blinked. She was expecting something else, entirely, and this had come from left field. "What?"

"The first game, remember?"

Kelsey groaned. Of course she remembered the first game of the season, nearly two weeks ago. After nearly getting slammed face first into the ice, Portman and Fulton had gone after the member of the opposition that had tried to do Kelsey in. Never mind that he was about to be sent to the penalty box; the Bash Brothers were in the mood to exact some revenge on the young man. After the game, Kelsey had apologized to the duo, since she felt that her nervousness about her first game had gotten the best of her. The guy hadn't checked her very hard; she had mostly tripped over her own skates. When Portman had told her she needed to get her head straight, they ended up getting into an argument, which caused everyone who had already left the locker room to come back in.

"And, after last week, he's convinced we can't play nice."

Kelsey heaved a sigh. "I can play nice. You just have a way with pushing my buttons."

"No, you just need to chill and quit PMS-ing."

"I'm _not_ PMS-ing." she hissed, resisting the urge to raise her voice.

Yes, Kelsey would admit that her previous sadness had been replaced by anger. She normally kept it under the surface, at least until she got home, but he just had a way of riling her. If he wasn't getting on her nerves at practice, he was talking about his transgressions with that _girl_. Most days, it took all Kelsey had in her to not smash a tray over his head and storm out of the cafeteria. And, while practice had a habit of alleviating her anger in the past, it was more of a source of her anger these days.

"Well, I am not losing my scholarship because of you."

"Fine, I'll quit the team."

She turned around and grabbed the handle of her car door, futilely trying to keep her composure and not burst into tears. She wrenched the door open, but felt it stop.

"I did not say that, Kelsey. What is going on with you?"

"Nothing, let me go." she said, choking back a sob.

How was she supposed to explain to him that she had stupidly allowed herself to harbor feelings for him? She had thought she was over it before the Halloween party fiasco, but she wasn't. Instead, she would spend most of her evenings dwelling on the fact that she had screwed it all up by acting like a child that day after he had kissed her at the hospital. Sure, a relationship would have never worked out, but she had totally ruined whatever chance at a friendship she had by effectively making him feel like an idiot.

"It's about that night, right?" he sighed as she bit her bottom lip. "Kels, it's fine. Seriously, I was mad, but you were right."

"About what?" she stared at her sneakers, hoping a hole would swallow her up.

"We are just friends. You're a cool chick, but you're like a kid sister. And, we should just forget about it all and start getting along."

"Ok." she whispered, blinking back a few tears. "I want to be friends. I'm sorry for being such a brat."

"Don't worry about it." he shrugged. "I was pretty stupid, too."

She pulled the sleeve of her sweater over her hand and wiped back the tears. "So, we're ok?"

"Yeah, we're good. So, I'll see ya tomorrow. Curfew is pretty soon."

She nodded, before getting back into the warm car. She composed herself enough to drive back to her place, but no sooner had she stormed up to her room and slammed the door, the tears started. It was always the same, she thought bitterly after the tears finally subsided. Guys liked her as a friend, but something always held them back from thinking about her in a different light.

Maybe it was time she stopped hiding behind the walls she had put up and act like the person she always wanted to be.


End file.
